Where there was once a Mayan temple there is now a church, but Chichicastenango, in Quiché, still preserves its most ancient religious traditions.
The central park is easily accessible and there is the Church of Santo Tomás, located on the same site where the ancient Mayan temple of Abaj, god of men, fertility and rain, was located. On its steps, the chuchkajau, Mayan priests, still practice their rituals, singing in cryptic languages and waving incense. Inside the church, the ceremonies are a strange mix of Catholic and shamanic prayers. Opposite is the Chapel of Calvary, smaller but with the same functions and characteristics.
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The fame of this city is largely due to the market, the most important and largest of all the indigenous markets in Guatemala. Vendors from all the surrounding villages and towns have always come here, loaded with merchandise along long paths. On Thursdays and Sundays, the central plaza is the scene of this impressive indigenous market that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Here, carved wooden masks, textiles and a wide variety of handicrafts are sold.
For lunch, there is the Casa San Juan Restaurant at 4 Calle San Juan 6-58 Zona 1.
From there, you go to Cerro Abaj or Turcaj, which means “sacred stone,” the most important altar of the almost thirty-five that can be found in the surrounding area, where you can attend rites and ceremonies, between Hispanic and Mayan, with offerings ranging from flowers and incense to food, drinks, cigarettes or live chickens. This place is attended by shamans from all over the country and even from places like Mexico and here, with luck, you can witness the initiation of some “religious doctor,” as they are often called, where a chuchkajau can divine the destiny of a child and thus determine whether he was born for religious life or not.
From the top of this hill you can see the cemetery, famous for its color. Here each grave has a color according to the age or family hierarchy of the person buried. Thus, for example, boys rest under the color light blue and girls under pink, grandparents under yellow, which is protection from the sun, mothers under turquoise and fathers under white, which means purity.
Chichicastenango is the only place where Mayans still exist today, ordinary and happy people who, far from those grandiose buildings in ruins, keep their traditions still alive and splendid.
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