Friday, June 26, 2009

Question - 274

The image shows a famous monument that biannually attracts even more crowds than usual. This picture shows one such day. What monument is this and what is the significance of this day?

Answer: This is the El Castillo in the ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico. On both equinoxes, the shadows resemble a crawling serpent, an illusion further heightened by a sculpture of a serpent head at the base. The serpent is a reference to the Mayan God Quetzalcoatl. Iam, Hari, Mekie, Rajesh K, Manix, Raghu and Rajesh got it. Well done.

7 comments:

Iam said...

Crawling of the serpent on Chichen Itza, Mexico, during an equinox

Hari said...

El Castillo, Descent of the Snake

mekie said...

Spring and Fall Equinox at Chichen Itza - The sun's shadow falls such that one side of the pyramid is completely exposed to sunlight, whereas the other side is in the shadow.

Anonymous said...

"El Castillo" - Chichen Itza ruins. During the 2 equinoxes, a serpentine shadow is formed on the walls of the pyramid extending down to the base which has a sculpture of a serpant head.

- Rajesh K.

Anonymous said...

The Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza, on one of the equinox days, when the shadow of a giant snake seems to crawl down the side of the pyramid.

Raghu said...

mayan pyramid during solstice (and equinox)

rajesh said...

Chichen Itza, Equinoxes and the shadow of Quetzalcoatl