World survives Maya ‘apocalypse’

A global day of lighthearted doom-themed celebration and superstitious scare-mongering culminated Friday in the jungle temples built by the Mayan people of Central America, whose calendar sparks fears of apocalypse.

December 21 marks the end of an era that lasted more than 5,000 years, according to the Mayan “Long Count” calendar. Some believe the date, which coincides with the December solstice, marks the end of the world as foretold by Mayan hieroglyphs.


Scholars scoff at the idea — it just marks the end of the old Mayan calendar and the beginning of a new one, they say.

But that didn’t stop some 3,000 people from gathering at this ancient Maya stone pyramid in the Guatemala jungle, where actors in costumes and head-dresses staged elaborate dances to a mournful pan-pipe tune. Native Maya priests then lit fires as the first rays of the new day’s sun appeared through the jungle canopy.

The ceremony was held to mark a new 5,200-year era of the Maya calendar. Critics however complained that the event was to benefit tourists, and had little to do with the real Mayans, who reached their peak of power in modern-day Mexico and parts of Central America between the years 250 and 900 AD.

“For us this isn’t a show and isn’t about tourism, it is something spiritual and personal,” said Sebastian Mejia, of the Conference of Maya Ministers, who was at Tikal with other Maya priests to celebrate a more serious parallel ceremony.

Another Maya indigenous leader, Alberto Marroquin, said that the Mayas felt they were marginalized at the official event.

“This is illogical,” Marroquin told AFP. “This is like celebrating something when the main person has not been invited.

“We are not magicians or warlocks we are scientists with our own way of thinking,” he said.

Forty percent of Guatemala’s 14.3 million residents are indigenous Mayas, and most live in poverty.

The central American region where the Mayans lived, which include parts of Mexico and Honduras, saw a tourism bonanza in the run-up to the fateful December 21 date, with tourists snapping up all-inclusive excursions to Mayan holy sites.

From Punch