El Tajín
HEY ERIC -- I HAVE YOUR FIFTY PESOS FROM THE HOTEL KEY DEPOSIT BUT I LOST YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! WRITE US!!
Go check this picture out.... Every March they have a big new-age art and music festival in the ruins, called Cumbres de Tajín. Lots of Europeans come and make love and ascend into the higher planes... they take workshops on vegan dancing metaphysical healing herbal aroma chakra massage and one night there's a big light show lighting up the pyramid of the niches, yes, all that and good food, too. You actually camp right in the zone, in little metaphysical huts. We are jealous because we had to leave and couldn't stick around for the fun!
El Tajín is an attractive, well cared-for archeological zone (zona arqueologica) located in northern Veracruz, ten miles or so outside the old Totonaca town of Papantla (home of vanilla), about seventy or eighty miles north of Jalapa (capital of Veracruz state, Jalapa is the site of a very important archeological museum, and itself a relatively untouristed, enjoyable city). This whole area is underexploited by tourists, but offers plenty of beauty and history and culture. Not to mention the important, and attractive, ruins. But then who are we kidding -- we ARE mentioning them heh heh yeah.
The city expanded in the late classic period and reached its peak in the early postclassic or epiclassic, roughly 900-1200 a.d., after which time it was abandoned. It is most famous for its precious Pyramid of the Niches, but should be equally renowned for its plethora of ball courts, some of which have been beautifully restored, and several which feature impressive carved stone serpent heads and panel reliefs, especially one ball court, in particular, with six spectacular stone texts, showing a sacrifice and other religious matters, which we are disappointed to say did not turn out very good in our photographs, even when we went in with photo-editing and tried to bring out the details.
But here's a shot we think is better than a tour guide book. Just a photograph, nothing more. Note the presence of a couple of niches right there in the foreground, sporting some of the ancient plaster and a tiny hint of the blue paint. The archeologists say that everything here was once painted all blue and all red, and sure enought there are a few places where you can still see the faint hints of the color. Plus, up on the hill at Tajín chico, if you squeeze in under the big palm thatch roof and stare into the darkness toward the crumbling, protected walls, you can glimpse a bit of ancient wall painting. This town was, like many cities in ancient Mesoamerica, a colorful, lively place, full of painting and sculpture. Speaking of sculpture....
Here is Mister Tajín himself, they say, the old mischievous young God of Thunder who stole the flying suit of one of the old gods, rulers, or what have you, and rode off across the sky, playing his flute that blew up all the winds, and beating his drum that made the thunder crash and rumble. You can still see the four voladores totonacas -- the Totonac Flyers -- circle around and around their tall pole, winding down from heaven around the world-tree axis mundi thirteen times (13x4=52 the number of years in the sacred Mesomerican calendar round) until they reach the earth. All the while their leader sits on top the pole blowing the flute and beating the drum.
Yes, just like old Señor Tajín! And you know, according to the story I was told in Papantla by a young man -- Javier -- who works in our hotel, well, that guy Tajín was muy travieso -- very mischievous -- and he flew all over the sky in the stolen flying suit and raised up one incredible storm, yes, a real hurican (uh-huh, hurricane), and all the old men/gods had to go after him and catch him, except the one whose suit he stole, and after they caught him they imprisoned him at the bottom of the sea. But every year, that mischievous Tajín asks the old men: "Is it my birthday today?" and the old men usually say, "Oh, no, it's not your birthday yet," or they say "Oh, no, your birthday already happened," and the wild young Tajín stays chained to the bottom of the sea.
But sometimes one of the old men forgets himself and says, "Oh, yes, it is your birthday today," and BOOM -- Tajín gets loose and blows up such a storm -- another hurricane -- that the old men must go chasing him all across the sky again until they catch him and return him to his place at the bottom of the monstrous sea.
And furthermore, every June First, in Papantla, it rains, either gently, or strongly, but it will rain. And they say that that is the day, the birthday, the birthday of mischievous, stormy, trickster thunder, Tajín.
We had a great time walking around, spent a week in Papantla, a wonderful, slightly scruffy but very picturesque city with no ugly industrial suburbs (except for all the gas and oil wells all over the countryside!), and a fabulous mix of Mexicans and Totonaca Indians and just a hint of tourists here and there. Good range of hotels. EXCELLENT COFFEE!! Much prettier town than the nearby big city of Poza Rica. And closer to the ruins.
Speaking of the ruins, here's a panoramic glimpse, the which if you click on will open a gigantic panorama of the same. Enjoy....
Andar tras mesoamérica : Copyright 2002-2003 Daniel Charles Thomas
