Tikal is a city in present day Guatemala, but Tikal is also the name of a series of very famous temples that are there. They are important pieces of Mayan architecture.There are four Tikal Temples. The temple that I chose is Tikal Temple I. This temple is also called Temple of the Great Jaguar because of a lintel that represents a king sitting upon a jaguar throne. The Tikal Temple I dates to about 732 A.D.
It is thought that the Temple of the Great Jaguar was built specifically for the burial site of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I who was the ruler based in Tikal. The tomb is located under the temple where the ruler was buried. The tomb for Jasaw Chan K'awiil I had to have been built before the temple was built because of this. Jasaw Chan K'awiil I's son overlooked the building of Tikal Temple I.The Temple of the Great Jaguar stands 47 meters above the Great Plaza and rises in nine stepped levels, which are thought to represent the nine levels of the underworld. A very steep staircase goes up the temple to the summit shrine.
Finely carved wooded lintels were on top of the temple. The lintels were carved with special wood. The special wood was called sapodilla wood and once it was colored red. There was three layers of this wood that made a hallway and the first layer was smooth. Then the second layer was ridged and not smoothed but the last layer of wood where you could touch was very smooth and pretty.
Tikal Temple I looks down on the ball court. The lower chamber of the temple opens outside into the main plaza. The Temple of the Great Jaguar has tall game walls on both sides of the man playing alley. It also had rings that are very high on the game walls. Those rings are for shooting balls through. The rules of the games played in the ball court are still unknown. It is thought that the ball used in these games was not able to be caught though.
The winner of the games held in the ball court usually sacrificed and it is said that the loser would cut off the winner's head in some games on the Temple of the Great Jaguar. This was looked at as the ultimate honor by the Mayans. The winning captain would get a direct path to heaven instead of having to go through the 13 steps the Mayans believed they had to go through in order to get to heaven. After human sacrifices were done on the temple, the bodies or body parts were thrown off of the temple down the stairs or onto the ground from the temple.
Comments