COMPONENTS AND SYMBOLISM

The Maya civilization expressed its cosmovision in architectural language. The Maya designed buildings to be utilitarian as well as symbolic, and constructed them as giant machines meant to maintain and focus divine energy. The purpose for which the pyramids were made—much like the Tibetan mandalas—was to serve as scale models of what they believed to be the Universe.

    Further, the temples contained geodesic data. For example, most of them had nine colonnades, exactly nine layers or levels, and nine steps, all of which represented the nine planes of the celestial existence. This numerology was meant to elevate the ceremonial habitats of the deities—the temples, that is—to their zenith. The pyramid of Kukulcan (the Maya plumed serpent god) at Chichen Itza, Mexico, symbolizes this. It has the exact number of elements that correspond to calendaric measurements.

    The architecture of Chichen Itza's temples appears to have evolved from a peasant's house plan, and after conducting many experiments with rock variations and the integration of sculpted architecture, it features both a pure, linear simplicity and an exuberant, almost-baroque Maya style. Many times Maya architects added elaborate masks to the façades of their buildings, as well as niches and columns with the carved facial representations of deities. Hieroglyphic inscriptions were also placed on rock or wood lintels. The pyramid's internal panels and murals were often made of sculpted or molded stucco.

FAÇADE ELEMENTS

Even more elements from commoners were combined in pyramid friezes. For example, the buildings integrated the designs of lattices much like those found today in rural Maya homes.

    Designers also integrated miniature lattices riddled with symbolic snakes, images of animals, flowers and humans. Stone constructions were commonly covered with stucco, which was generally painted red. The temple's crests were constructed with relatively thin walls, which gave the buildings more height, and therefore more presence. It is also thought that these crests may have served as astral points for ancient astronomers. To the ancient Maya, all of these elements—some of which today might look only decorative—formed a mosaic of sacred symbols.

THE   MAYAN  VAULT

The Maya vaults served as roofs for tombs, chambers and other enclosures. They were constructed with consecutive lines of stones stacked vertically and ending in a cap. It is called a "false arch" because the cap is not a wedge. Since the capstone does not make the structure rigid, the Maya could not develop spacious interiors in their temples. Some Maya arches are used as endings on sacbes (white roads) and as passageways in buildings.