This is a post of firsts. It was my first time in Atlanta, and I found it to be a rather sleepy city, at least compared to New York City and Los Angeles, though we had little time for sightseeing to prove otherwise. My grandmother on my father’s side is the mother of sixteen surviving children, dispersed all over the world, though largely concentrated now in the States. It was the second wedding among the grandchildren and was the perfect catalyst for a family reunion long overdue. After a family dinner on Friday evening and a meet and greet between the Sri Lankan and Peruvian/Argentine families, we celebrated in full force on Saturday, beginning with a thali ceremony at the local Hindu temple followed by a reception with good food, drink, merriment, and dancing. Come Sunday, it was with heavy hearts that we said our goodbyes as each of the families departed for home or onward travel. It had been, in some cases, nearly ten years since we had met, and I couldn’t believe how much many of my cousins had grown into young, achieved adults. I felt a renewed pride all weekend to be a part of such a large, generous, and wonderful family.
The Matriarch
Hindu Temple in Atlanta's suburbs
The gorgeous couple: My cousin, Shankar, and his wife, Fernanda
After a four hour flight from Atlanta that had been delayed at least four times due to a passing thunderstorm, I finally reached Guatemala City at 1:00 AM. My very good friend who lives in the City was kind enough to give me a lift from the airport to the quaint, former Spanish colonial town of Antigua, located in the central highlands about 45 kilometers outside of the capital. I think I may have done one group tour my entire adult life, and that was a Greek cruise while I was still a college student. Given how much I wanted to cover in such a short period of time and the dearth of time I’ve had these past few months for research and trip planning, not to mention increased criminal activity particularly linked to the narcotics trade, a group tour seemed like the perfect option for me, and I decided to go with Intrepid. They are known for their small groups, typically comprised of folks older than university students, and cognizant of the environment. Within minutes of meeting, I felt the camaraderie building amongst us.
I had a full day to myself to roam the cobblestone lanes, lined with the most colorful of Spanish homes. The architecture naturally mirrored much of what I saw in Cartagena. Antigua, in the Valley of Panchoy, is full of old churches and ruins from the colonial period and is overlooked by three spectacular volcanoes—Agua, Acatenango, and Fuego. I found myself crossing between Hindi and Spanish while purchasing a local SIM card among other things before I realized it would take me a good couple of days to transition my brain into Spanish mode. Before enjoying an evening in the local artisan’s market, I decided to take a brief tour of the Finca Filadelfia coffee plantation, where coffee marketed under the name R. Dalton is grown, processed, and exported to various international coffee brands such as Starbucks. I found the process much more complex, yet more fascinating than I ever imagined, particularly how the roots of the bitter Robusta breed plants are fused into the base of the Arabica breed to stave away microscopic worms and protect the plants. I can say that while I am not an avid coffee consumer, I now appreciate the effort and care that goes into a single cup of good, gourmet coffee.
I had a full day to myself to roam the cobblestone lanes, lined with the most colorful of Spanish homes. The architecture naturally mirrored much of what I saw in Cartagena. Antigua, in the Valley of Panchoy, is full of old churches and ruins from the colonial period and is overlooked by three spectacular volcanoes—Agua, Acatenango, and Fuego. I found myself crossing between Hindi and Spanish while purchasing a local SIM card among other things before I realized it would take me a good couple of days to transition my brain into Spanish mode. Before enjoying an evening in the local artisan’s market, I decided to take a brief tour of the Finca Filadelfia coffee plantation, where coffee marketed under the name R. Dalton is grown, processed, and exported to various international coffee brands such as Starbucks. I found the process much more complex, yet more fascinating than I ever imagined, particularly how the roots of the bitter Robusta breed plants are fused into the base of the Arabica breed to stave away microscopic worms and protect the plants. I can say that while I am not an avid coffee consumer, I now appreciate the effort and care that goes into a single cup of good, gourmet coffee.
Guatemalan artisan
Finca Filadelfia Coffee Plantation
Finca Filadelfia Coffee Farm
Arabica coffee beans
Manual splitting of the Arabica plant root to implant the Robusto root
Coffee beans before final cleaning and roasting
My second day in Antigua started at dawn with a couple of members from the travel group. We had opted to hike up the Pacayo Volcano, 2,500 meters above sea level, from which we could view all three of the major volcanoes overlooking Antigua town. It had been pouring rain the last few days, and we lucked out with the clearest, sunniest day Antigua had seen in weeks. The terrain of the active volcano, which was still steaming from the internal heat, was sometimes lunar and other times Martian. The colors of the porous, hardened, jagged lava ranged from smoky gray to fiery reds. Caverns and crevices from which exceptional heat protruded became more prevalent as we ascended the volcano. Those who had brought sandwiches or packed lunches wrapped in foil were able to essentially toast these in the caverns’ pockets over its hot rocks.
Cobblestone roads of Antigua, overlooked by the Volcano Agua 
View of Volcano Fuego from Pacayo
Traversing across the Pacayo terrain
Graffiti along the way
Hardened lava
Volcanic rock of Pacayo
Guatemalan artisan in Antigua
Weaver
Iglesia La Merced
Colorful streets of Antigua townMayan and Aztec culture and replicas of its art and ware are prevalent all over Guatemala and throughout Central America. This is one of the most fascinating cultures for me, personally, and what particularly resonates is the philosophy and what I like to call spiritual science that rationalized the divine, creation, and cause for existence for the Mayans* and Aztecs alike. The similarities between Hindu philosophy and these two ancient philosophies are fascinating, from the legends of hero twins to the concept of dualism -- creation being the result of complementary opposition and conflict. The Aztecs embodied this interdependent opposition through their god of creation, Ometeotl, God of Duality, who is believed to reside in the thirteenth heaven of Omeyocan, Place of Duality. Common to the Hindu concept of dualism, embodied in the fused Shiva Shakthi, Ardhanareeshwara, Ometeotl, too, possesses both male and female creative energies and can be further depicted as the couple Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl, “Lord and Lady of Our Sustenance.” Serpents, monkeys, and other symbols of divinity to represent life and fertility, the natural elements, and the cosmos are prevalent in all art of these two cultures. There are over 4,000 Mayan archaeological sites peppering Guatemala and many more yet to be excavated.
En route to Flores in the department of Izabel, southeastern Guatemala, our first real exposure to the ancient Mayan remnants was in Quirigua. During the Mayan classical period (200-900 AD), Quirigua was at the crossroads of several important trade routes and also served as a ceremonial center. The Mayans used the local red sandstone to sculpt and erect some of the tallest freestanding monuments in the Americas here. Some of the best preserved monuments are stelas, depicting the rulers of the city at the time, dated and captioned using their own, very sophisticated hieroglyphic script. The constant struggle, wars, and usurping of power from one Mayan tribe or kingdom to another is apparent in the recorded time periods and depictions of various rulers on the stelas. Often once a kingdom was captured, its ruler would be sacrificed to the gods in a grand public ceremony.
En route to Flores in the department of Izabel, southeastern Guatemala, our first real exposure to the ancient Mayan remnants was in Quirigua. During the Mayan classical period (200-900 AD), Quirigua was at the crossroads of several important trade routes and also served as a ceremonial center. The Mayans used the local red sandstone to sculpt and erect some of the tallest freestanding monuments in the Americas here. Some of the best preserved monuments are stelas, depicting the rulers of the city at the time, dated and captioned using their own, very sophisticated hieroglyphic script. The constant struggle, wars, and usurping of power from one Mayan tribe or kingdom to another is apparent in the recorded time periods and depictions of various rulers on the stelas. Often once a kingdom was captured, its ruler would be sacrificed to the gods in a grand public ceremony.
Stela D, representing King K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat in Quirigua
Stela F, representing another Mayan king
Zoomorphs, depicting symbolic animals
Another stela of a Mayan king of Quirigua
Carvings alongside the stelas
Stela D
Acropolis at QuiriguaProbably one of the most magnificent of the Mayan heritage sites is Tikal, one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the ancient Mayan civilization. The site is located in El Peten and is a part of Guatemala’s Tikal National Park. I have wanted to visit such sites full of the temples that Mayans to this day continue to practice their rituals at for years. Their philosophy and advanced integration of it into daily life had sparked my interest since I had first started studying Vedantam and was able to identify the parallels of the two. As noted in the Celestine Prophecy, many believe that many of the Mayans, who disappeared without a trace, actually evolved into higher beings or, as Hindus would say, attained enlightenment, existing at a much higher frequency that we can fathom, so much so that they are no longer visible to the human eye. Another theory is that rather than living among us, they have crossed over into another dimension or vortex. When asked about prophesies of the end of the world in 2012, the Guatemalans or present day Mayans laughed and said they did not believe in the end of the world. Rather, like in Hindu philosophy, the world and its people evolve through cycles, and just as Hindus believe that we have entered the final stage (Kaliyuga) of another cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction, also known as life, the Mayans calculate 24,500-year long stages, the date in December 2012 marking the commencement of the next stage. During this stage, homo sapiens begin to evolve into homo sapiens “light,” marking a period of greater spiritual awareness and a return to the old truths of the past.
Tikal, like Quirigua, reached its peak during the Mayan classical period which lasted from 200 to 900 AD. During this period, the kingdom oversaw much of the Mayan region politically, economically, and militarily. The structures, primarily temples, platforms, and royal palaces, were built of limestone, and many of the ruling dynasties integrated burial sites amidst these, continuing to build newer structures atop the older ones. The temples resemble the pyramids of Egypt and their condition over 2,000 years later is remarkable.
Tikal, like Quirigua, reached its peak during the Mayan classical period which lasted from 200 to 900 AD. During this period, the kingdom oversaw much of the Mayan region politically, economically, and militarily. The structures, primarily temples, platforms, and royal palaces, were built of limestone, and many of the ruling dynasties integrated burial sites amidst these, continuing to build newer structures atop the older ones. The temples resemble the pyramids of Egypt and their condition over 2,000 years later is remarkable.
Platform in Tikal
Hieroglyphic records of the Mayans
Temple III of Tikal
Aguada del Palacio
Aguada del Palacio
Aguada del Palacio
View of Temple V
Northern Acropolis, facing the Grand Plaza
The Grand Plaza from the Central Acropolis
Temple I aka The Great Jaguar Temple- the landmark of Guatemala, built in 810 A.D.
Frontal view of the Great Jaguar Temple
View of Temple II, Temple of the Masks or Faces, built in 700 A.D.
Another view of Temple I
View from Temple IV, the highest in Tikal, also known as the Temple of the Two-Headed Snake
Temple V, the first pyramid of Tikal, constructed in 600 A.D.
Fascinating display of ants at work
Parrots in RenataAmidst all the travels, my body finally succumbed to fatigue and ailments. While others took a dip in the gorgeous blue-green waters of Lake Peten Itza, I took time out to rest and reflect on all that we had seen the last few days, and I really felt blessed to be immersing in the energies of the ancient Maya. I was looking forward to more in Belize the following day.
*It is important to note that unlike the unified Aztec empire, the Mayans were neither politically and culturally a single, unified people. In the 16th century, there were at least thirty clashing Mayan groups with distinct languages, customs, calendrics, and religions.
*It is important to note that unlike the unified Aztec empire, the Mayans were neither politically and culturally a single, unified people. In the 16th century, there were at least thirty clashing Mayan groups with distinct languages, customs, calendrics, and religions.
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