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Place to Visit | Mayan Ruins | |
Kohunlich |
Kohunlich
Kohunlich, pronounced [KOE•HOON•LEECH], is a large archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya, the site was settled by 200 B.C. but most of the structures were built in the Early Classic period from about 250 to 600 A.D. The site covers about 21 acres, surrounded by dense sub-tropical rainforest.
Kohunlich was a flourishing city with a large population, it was elaborately planned and engineered, with raised platforms and pyramids, citadels, courtyards and plazas surrounded with palace platforms, all laid out to channel drainage into a system of cisterns and an enormous reservoir to collect rainwater.
Kohunlich is best known for its Temple of the Masks (in spanish "Tempo de los Mascarones"), an Early Classic pyramid whose central stairway is flanked by three meters-high masks that represent the Sun God "Kinich Ahau", at the height of his power as he journeys across the daytime sky. These masks are some of the greatest treasures in the Mayan world, they face west so that the setting sun can light there faces at the end of each day.
In 1969 when looters discovered the site the removed some of the outer covering of Structure I, they were in the process of removing the giant masks and unfortunately now just remains 3 intact masks.
These masks depict an individual coming froth from an upper and lower mask with the breath of life in his nostrils. The lower mask is the earth monster and upper the astral world, indicating that the wearer of this headdress is among the living and not in the other worlds. The eyes suggest that the individual is associated with the sun god and the god of the night who brings light to the world of the dead. One archaeological interpretation states “The ceremonial aspects of these masks represent the sun, the star itself and the king with whom it was associated.”
Of particular interest, both the Temple of the masks and the Temple of the 27 steps, have 27 steps, a number of particular interest in both the Jewish and Mayan worlds.
You can try to imagine what aspect had the pyramid with its masks in the ancient times, when the Mayas reached it through the courtyard, now buried.
Not far, there are the rests of a vast residential area where the trees now grow on the steps of the pyramids, a great place to shot beautiful pictures.
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