Ceremony heralds end of era in 5125-year Mayan calendar

Tikal, Guatemala, Dec 21: Guatemala on Thursday marked the end of a major cycle in the 5,125-year Mayan Long Count calendar with a colourful, elaborate celebration filled with dance, Mayan music and gravity-defying headdresses. The ceremony at the Tikal archaeological site, near the northern border, started just after 2100 local time (0830 IST) with man dressed like a Mayan priest blowing a horn in the Temple of Giant Jaguar, the most famous of all Tikal's temples. Wearing costumes inspired by ancient Mayan ceremonial dress, performers carried a "king" and "queen" on litters around the base of the pyramid as musicians played traditional instruments designed to make sounds that imitate the natural world - a jaguar hissing or a bird singing. "Show us the road of peace and harmony throughout time," called out the event's presenter, Maria Francisca Yax Tiu, as she stood flanked by other young performers on the pyramid's steps. The show was broadcast live by the government and staged with the sort of pageantry usually reserved for openings of major sporting events. Access to the event was limited amid tight security owing to the attendance of President Otto Perez, a restriction that infuriated members of indigenous rights groups who came to the site to make offerings but were not allowed to enter. A group of several dozen protesters gathered outside the entrance to protest their exclusion on the sacred day. "We should all have access here," protester Jose Kak said. "We are the owners, the inheritors of these sacred temples." The celebration came on the eve of 21 December, the date characterised in popular culture as the "Mayan Apocalypse", despite what archaeologists say is scant evidence that the Mayans believed the world would end with the close of the era, known as the 13th Baktun. While the end of the Mayan calendar cycle prompted a wave of doomsday speculation across the globe, few in the Mayan heartland believe the world will end. The Mayans measured time in 394-year periods known as baktuns. The 13th baktun ends around 21 December and 13 is considered a sacred number for the Mayans. But archaeologists have uncovered Mayan glyphs that refer to dates far, far in the future, long beyond 21 December.Chichen Itza, Mexico: Thousands of tourists flocked to the Chichen Itza archaeological site in Yucatan on Thursday as the hype continues to build over the so-called "Mayan Apocalypse." On 21 December, a major cycle in the 5,125-year-old Mayan Long Count calendar is due to end bringing with it, some believe, the end of civilisation. But in Chichen Itza on Thursday there was no impending sense of doom. A group of indigenous people performed a pre-Hispanic dance in front of the pyramid as they prepared for the arrival of the 'new era.' Visitors strolled calmly while observing the 2,500-year-old ruins and posing for pictures in front of the famous Kukulkan pyramid. "I don't expect anything magical to happen, although I would love it if it did," said Dan Horn, teacher and actor from Los Angeles, California. "I think it just kind of symbolic and that's why I want to be here for this, entering this new age of thought, hopefully," he added. The supposed 5 a.m. Friday doomsday hour has already arrived in several parts of the world with no sign of the apocalypse. Nevertheless, officials expect up to forty thousand people to visit the archaeological site in the coming days. "Chichen Itza is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Mayan culture not only because of the historical events that took place here," said Eduardo Lopez Calzada, a spokesman for Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, "but also for its architectural relevance." "It is without a doubt one of the biggest cities of the Mesoamerican world in the Yucatan Peninsula," he added.