Mayans Welcome the New Sun

HAVANA TIMES — With ceremonies in various parts of Guatemala, Mayan peoples were witnesses to the arrival on Friday of the New Age with the dawn of a new sun. Meanwhile, indigenous organizations questioned the commercial use of the date.

The spiritual leader who presided over the ritual at the Temple of the Great Jaguar said, “The time has come for the Mayan people to rise up and seek peace and harmony.” The ceremony took place in Tikal National Park, the cradle of that ancient culture.

There, the spiritual leader demanded respect for Mayan communities and called for free access to their holy sites. Guatemala’s parliament has spent more than 15 years without passing a law regarding sacred sites of indigenous peoples.

Tikal National Park was one of the main places where rituals were performed for the end of the thirteenth “Baktun,” a cycle of 5,200 years in the Mayan calendar.

At least 13 cities and Mayan ceremonial centers welcomed the first sun of the new era in Guatemala on Friday.

However, the People’s Council of Western Maya termed as “outrageous” the way in which the government and businesspeople in that country have “folklorized” and “marketed” the date. (Pulsar news)