Tikal Temple I

Listen first. Somewhere above the trees, a deep, rolling roar moves through the canopy. It sounds like a large animal, but it is a howler monkey, calling across the forest. The air is warm and heavy with the smell of damp leaves and limestone dust. Then the trees open, the light floods in, and you are standing in the Great Plaza of Tikal. In front of you, a steep stone pyramid rises toward the sky.

This is Temple I, also known as the Temple of the Great Jaguar. The name comes from a jaguar figure carved on one of the wooden beams inside its summit shrine. The temple stands on the eastern side of the plaza. Across from it, on the western side, stands its partner, Temple II. The two pyramids face each other across the open grass. Many people believe that this placement was deliberate, and that the two buildings were meant to be seen together.

To understand this temple, you need to know about one man. His name was Jasaw Chan K'awiil, and he ruled Tikal in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. Older books sometimes call him Ah Cacao. When he came to power, Tikal was weak. For generations, the city had struggled against a powerful rival to the north called Calakmul. In the year 695, Jasaw won a major victory over Calakmul. That victory began a new period of strength and building at Tikal.

This pyramid is, above all, a tomb. Jasaw Chan K'awiil died in the 730s, and archaeologists believe that the temple was built over his burial soon afterward. Most scholars think his son and successor, Yik'in Chan K'awiil, completed the work. So the building you see is a son's monument to his father. It also carried a clear political message: this ruler brought the city back, and his family still holds power.

Look at the shape of the pyramid. It rises in nine stepped levels, one stacked on top of another. Many researchers link the number nine to the Maya idea of the underworld, which had nine layers. If that reading is correct, the dead king rests at the base, and the shrine at the top points toward the heavens. The steps are very steep. The design pulls your eye straight upward, and it makes the temple look even taller than it is.

At the summit there is a small shrine with three narrow rooms. Above it rises a tall stone crest that the Maya used to decorate their temples. Archaeologists call it a roof comb. Today it is grey and plain, but it was once covered in painted plaster. Traces suggest that it showed a large image of the seated ruler. Imagine the whole pyramid painted, probably in deep red, shining above the white plaza floor.

Here is a detail that most visitors miss. The doorways of the summit shrine were spanned by beams of very hard wood from the sapodilla tree, the same tree that gives us chicle, the original base of chewing gum. Some of these beams were carved with detailed scenes. In the nineteenth century, a Swiss physician removed several of the carved lintels from Tikal and sent them to Europe. Those carvings are now kept in a museum in Basel, in Switzerland, far from the forest where they were made.

The king himself stayed here until 1962. That year, a team from the University of Pennsylvania dug deep into the base of the pyramid and found his tomb. Archaeologists know it as Burial 116. Inside lay the remains of Jasaw Chan K'awiil, surrounded by jade, shells, and painted pottery. He wore heavy jade ornaments, including a large jade necklace. It was one of the richest royal burials ever found in the Maya world.

The second surprise was among the smaller objects. The tomb held a set of carved bones with very fine, delicate scenes. One of the most famous shows gods paddling a canoe, carrying the maize god down into the waters of the underworld. These tiny carvings are now some of the best-known images in Maya art. They show us how the Maya imagined death: not as an ending, but as a journey across water.

You may notice that no one is climbing this temple. Climbing Temple I has been forbidden for many years. This protects the old stone, and it also protects visitors, because the steps are steep and narrow. Some of the other temples at Tikal have wooden stairways that you can use. From the top of Temple IV, the tallest structure here, the view over the forest is so remarkable that it appeared in the original Star Wars film in 1977.

Turn slowly and look around the plaza. To the north is the North Acropolis, a crowded group of temples built over many centuries, with older rulers buried inside. To the south is the Central Acropolis, a maze of palace rooms and courtyards. In front of the North Acropolis, lines of carved stone pillars stand on the grass. These are stelae, which recorded the lives and deeds of kings. Together, these buildings formed the political and religious centre of a large city.

For centuries after the Maya left Tikal, the forest covered all of this. Roots broke into the walls, and soil filled the rooms. Today the site is part of Tikal National Park, which UNESCO listed as a World Heritage Site in 1979, for both its ruins and its forest. That is why the wildlife is still here. Watch the grass for ocellated turkeys, with their bright blue heads. Look up for toucans and spider monkeys, and watch the trails for coatis with their long tails.

Before you move on, stay still for a moment. The sun moves across the face of the temple, and the shadows of the nine levels change as it does. Around you, the forest is never silent. Birds call, insects hum, and the howler monkeys roar again in the distance. A king lay here in the dark for more than twelve centuries. As you walk back toward the trees, look over your shoulder once more. The Great Jaguar is still watching over the plaza.