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El Castillo (Spanish pronunciation: [el kas'tiʎo], 'the Castle'), also known as the Temple of Kukulcan is a Mesoamerican step-pyramid that dominates the center of the Chichen Itza archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán. The temple building is more formally designated by archaeologists as Chichen Itza Structure 5B18.
Elaborate stone facades in Chichen Itza's "Monjas" complex in 1902. The Maya name "Chichen Itza" means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza." This derives from chi', meaning "mouth" or "edge", and chʼen or chʼeʼen, meaning "well". Itzá is the name of an ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern ...
Kukulkan was a deity closely associated with the Itza state in the northern Yucatán Peninsula, where the religion formed the core of the Territorial religion. [7] Although the worship of Kukulkan had its origins in earlier Maya traditions, the Itza worship of Kukulkan was heavily influenced by the Quetzalcoatl religion of central Mexico. [7]
Temple of Kukulkan, at Chichen Itza, in 2013, by Veto Zereptram. Chichen Itza is known to have (coercively) sponsored the pre-eminent worship of K'uk'ulkan. [84] [note 49] The Cult of K'uk'ulkan is thought to have been the first state religion to transcend linguistic and ethnic differences in Mesoamerica. [85]
The structure is dated to around AD 906, the Post Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, by the stele on the Upper Platform. [1]It is suggested that the El Caracol was an ancient Mayan observatory building and provided a way for the Mayan people to observe changes in the sky due to the flattened landscape of the Yucatán with no natural markers for this function around Chichen Itza. [2]
In 1971 Tony Shearer published a book called Lord of the Dawn: Quetzalcoatl and the Tree of Life, inspiring New Age followers to visit Chichen Itza at the summer solstice when dragon-shaped shadows are cast by the Kulkulcan pyramid. [49] The legend of Quetzalcoatl is spoofed in the Adult Swim CGI series Xavier: Renegade Angel.
The Chontal chief of Acalan, Pablo Paxbolon, described in a colonial document known as Papeles de Paxbolón Maldonado (Paxbolón Maldonado Papers) several details about Itzamkanac such as the great cult that the city had towards the god Kukulkan, this could have been the result of the great contact that Itzamkanac had as a great trading point ...
The second was an invasion of Toltec-ized Itza (the founding royal family of Chichen Itza) and was led by Kukulcan II. The Third invasion was of Mexican mercenaries from Tabasco. Tozzer argued that the Maya ruled between these three waves of violence and negative culture, and that this creates the dichotomy within Chichen Itza architecture.