Maya Pilgrimage, Ritual Landscapes, and Relations with Deities in Chiapas, Mexico

Pilgrimage has been important in Maya cultures in Chiapas, Mexico, for over 2000 years. In this region, as in other parts of Mesoamerica, people have visited significant landscape shrines for rituals as part of their daily lives. Movements to sacred places, including mountains, caves, rock shelters, islands, and ancient ruins, have been necessary for Maya to maintain social relations with deities attached to these locales. Maya must interact with their deities at these ritual landscapes to provide them with offerings and prayers so that in turn the gods will give people rain, food, health, and prosperity. The authors show the significance of Maya pilgrimage and relationships with deities in case studies from Mensabak, Miramar, and Lacandon shrines in ancient Maya sites in Chiapas. The archaeological, historical, and ethnographic information used in this essay demonstrates that pilgrimage must be considered for comprehending many aspects of Maya culture over time, including settlement patterns, economic life, social organization, and cosmogony.