Xelha Mayan ruins

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Xelha Mayan ruins

The placement of Xel Ha is vital as a way to realize why this area was so vital to the spiritual life of the traditional Maya people. For it was here that pilgrims originated from all over Maya land (now referred to as Central America and the Yucatan) for their once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the island of Cozumel. In days long past gone, Cozumel was named Ixchel, which is the name of the Maya goddess of love and fertility. For it was here, on this beautiful island only accessed by large canoes, that Maya people performed their ceremonies for abundant fertility, usually right before marriage.

Upon entering the archeological zone of Xel ha, there are two main areas of interesting ruins which are built during the Maya classic period (300 to 900 AD). The first area which is literally alongside the highway, you will find buildings of stone lying in bliss among large Ceiba trees. The Ceiba tree is the Maya tree of life. Seemingly reaching out in all directions, the Ceiba grows fast and strong from the bottom up, growing branches before growing leaves. For the Maya, the Cieba tree is a natural demonstration of the Christian cross or DiVinci´s Vitruvio, exemplifying our connection to the underworld, in all four directions (north, south, east and west) and our link with above (God, space and extra terrestrials).

Photographs by Bill Bell