The World Tree at Palenque


Drawing from Schele, Maya Cosmos



World Tree
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Temple of the Cross  
Photo of complete Tablet of the Cross from temple interior

The Tablet of the Cross illustrates the World Tree , which connects Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. It is flanked by the Palenque Ruler Chan Balam (right) , who dedicated the Temples of the Cross group in 690 AD,  and his father, the greatest of Palenque Kings, Pakal.  The glypic text  tells of  the birth of First Mother and First Father, and the  "raising of the sky"  by First Father, the Maize God Hun-Nal-Ye. The World Tree is a symbol of the creation and  ordering of the cosmos .
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Temples of the Cross Group consists of three structures,  the Temple
of the Cross, Temple of the Foliated Cross, and Temple of the Sun.  When the temples were dedicated in 690 AD,  the moon was in conjunction with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, likely thought to represent the reuniting of First Mother and her sons, the three deities of the "Palenque triad ,"  whose births are reported in inscriptions of the Cross Group. 

The World Tree is depicted as a symbol of the Milky Way, the Wakah Chan ("Raised-up Sky") in the Temple of the Cross. On the dates assigned to centering of the world at Creation of the present era, the Milky Way stands erect in the sky at dawn. 

In the Temple of the Foliated Cross, the World Tree is  the Na Te K'an ("First Precious Tree"), a symbol of the sky-raising Maize God Hun-Nal-Ye.


Comparison of World Trees in the Temple of the Cross and the
Temple of the Foliated Cross (Schele, Maya Cosmos)
Linked from Mesoamerican Art images, Calif. State University Los Angeles
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   The Temple of Sun is decorated with a  "Sun Shield"  that may symbolize the birth of the sun.


enlarge		 Lid of sarcophagus of Pakal (Left) shows the dead ruler falling along the axis of the World Tree, the Milky Way or "white road", sak be, into the Under world. (Pyamid of the Inscriptions).

Temple of the Foliated Cross (Right)

These images are of reproductions, produced by  Maya Art Stones


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Ideology, politics, and mythology at Palenque.  Although Maya religion served all of the functions of the religions of  other times and places, it became intimately associated with  the shamanistic rituals of  rulers of the Classical era  (200-900 AD).  Creation mythology linked  the rituals of rulership to the primordial ordering of the world.

Maya religion was probably the major ideological justification for the Maya political, military, and economic institutions. By building temples, for example, the rulers enhanced their own prestige and authority to rule, and created social unification.
Kevin L. Callahan "Maya Religion" at Ancient Mesoamerican Civilizations

Lady Sak K'uk,  mother of the great Palenque king,  K'inch Janaab Pakal, ruled Palenque before Pakal came of age. The  Temples of the Cross Group  appear to have been planned by  Pakal  and completed by his son Chan balam (K'inich Kan B'alam II) as an elaborate justification of Pakal's  claim to the throne through his mother.  The text of the tablet in the Temple of the Cross contains an account of the raising of the sky of the present era by "First Father", the Maize God Hun- Nal-ye, but it  begins with the birth of "First Mother", Muwan Mut, before the present era began. She is patroness, and likely founder, of the dynasty of Palenque rulers: One form of the "emblem glyph" that represents the city-state contains her glyph. Lady Sak K'uk  adopted the name Muwan Mut  when she ruled Palenque.  The text also tells us that 825 years after the sky was raised,  First Mother  "crowned herself."  A list of Palenque kings follows.   

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Pakal receives jester headress of rulership from Lady Sak K'uk
(Oval Palace Tablet,  Palenque)




Pakal Chan Balam
 She crowned herself,  Muwan Mut
 Palenque Emblem glyphs
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Return to RAISING THE SKY: THE MAYA CREATION MYTH AND THE MILKY WAY

Palenque Links
  Palenque Project (at Mesoweb)
 Palenque (Jeeni Criscenz'  Maya Culture pages)
Frommer's Travel Guide: Palenque
More images of the Temples of the Cross Group
Dr. Manuel Aguilar's  collection of Mesoamerican Art images (California State University Los Angeles)
Early Travellers to Palenque ( Includes 19th C.  images of Palenque)