The Serpent of Light at Chichen Itza

Kukulkan's name is inseparable from the great city of Chichen Itza, where it attaches both to the famous stepped pyramid, El Castillo, the Temple of Kukulkan, and to a ruler or dynasty of legend said to have come to the Yucatan and founded or refounded the city's power. The pyramid is a triumph of the marriage of astronomy and architecture in the service of the god. It is built so that, on the afternoons around the spring and autumn equinoxes, the stepped edges of its terraces cast a rippling line of light and shadow down the side of the northern stairway, which meets a great carved serpent's head at the base, so that the Feathered Serpent appears to descend the pyramid in undulating light, a living image of the god manifesting on his temple twice a year at the balance of the seasons. Great crowds still gather to watch this play of light today.

The relationship between the Yucatec Kukulkan, the Kiche Gucumatz and the central Mexican Quetzalcoatl reflects the deep and ancient connections among the peoples of Mesoamerica, who shared the worship of the feathered serpent across languages and centuries. The Maya remain a living people, and Kukulkan is one of the enduring emblems of their heritage. He is the sky-and-earth serpent of wind and civilisation, whose descent in light on the equinox is among the most celebrated sights of the ancient American world.