To honor the Maya and their vast wealth of knowledge, details of their culture have been incorporated into the building of the Baths.
The main water filled tunnel of the grottos is aligned precisely on the winter solstice so that on December 21st of each year, the sun sets directly in the center of the tunnel from 100 feet back in the cave. The winter solstice was of great significance to the Maya. If the god of the sun, for whatever reason, decided to continue his journey of setting further south on the horizon each day after the Winter Solstice and not return on his path north once again, it would mean utter disaster for them. Days would become increasingly shorter and colder and dryer as they had been since June. The sun does not set at the same point on the horizon each day, at our latitude the sunset moves along an arc on the horizon of almost 60 degrees, from north of due West on June 21st, the summer solstice, to south of due West on December 21st, the winter solstice. The Mayan prophecy tells that on December 21st 2012, the exact day of the winter solstice, we are in for significant change when the 400 year Mayan “Long Count Calendar” cycle of the 13th Baktun will end on 13.0.0.0.0. The precise alignment of the setting sun through the solstice tunnel on this date will tell the tale!
There are 13 candles perched along the solstice tunnel walls signifying the 13th Baktum. 13 is a sacred number to the Maya and is also the number of moons in a calendar year. It is also the number of months in the Mayan “Short Count Calendar”, (known as the Tzolk'in. The Mayan month had 20 days and the first seating nicho in the water tunnel at Arcangel has 20 candles representing each day of their month. The Mayan short count calendar has 260 days, 13 months of 20 days. One theory for the 260 day calendar is that it was simply based on the sacred numbers thirteen and twenty, although it doesn’t seem the Maya did anything without great significance. Another theory is that the 260 day period came from the length of human pregnancy. This is close to the average number of days between the first missed menstrual period and birth. A third theory comes from understanding of astronomy, geography and paleontology. At a latitude of about 15° N (the latitude at the center of the Maya civilization) the Sun passes through zenith (90 degrees overhead) twice a year, and there are 260 days between zenithal passages. A fourth theory is that the calendar is based on the crop cycles; from planting to harvest is approximately 260 days.
The Maya well knew that the solar year had 365 and a fraction days and they had another count for this calendar. However their belief was not that this was the time that it took the Earth to revolve around the sun, but rather it was the time between Solstices, Winter or Summer. The Mayan Long Count calendar (known as the Haab) had 18 months of 20 days or 360 days. The second seating nicho in the water tunnel has 18 candles representing the months in this calendar. The third nicho in the tunnel represents the Wayeb', the five nameless days at the end of the calendar period, which was thought to be a dangerous time. It was believed that "During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters. "During Wayeb the Maya had many customs and rituals which they practiced to ward off evil spirits.
Along the underground tunnels are frescos, Mayan hieroglyphs, which are the symbols of their diverse written language and a golden pyramid in the anteroom acts as a heater.
Read the Winter Solstice Story