Like many people of the world, the Maya built and need a body of religious beliefs to explain the origin and structure of the cosmos, as well as to justify the role making plays in the maintenance of order in that reality. Since it is impossible to explain the causes that produce the most diverse natural phenomena created an imaginary world formed by supernatural beings. I am going to write about the similarities and differences between two relevant gods, Itzamna and K´inich Ajaw.

One similarity between supernatural beings is that the god Itzamna as the god K´inich Ajaw possessed animal forms; for instance, the god Itzamna was a bird and a crocodile, while the god K´inich Ajaw was the mixture of various animals, such as the jaguar, shark, among others. Similar to the god Itzamna, god K´inich Ajaw had the same significance because, the first was the creator of everything that could one imagine in the cosmos, and the second was the creator of the sun, the two possessed individual skills but highly related to the establishment.

Although there are similarities, there are also some relevant differences. The god Itzamna by their creator god qualities, he personified as an old man. His residence was heavenly, and from there dictated the designs of the cosmos, seated on a celestial band, a symbol of planets and other celestial bodies that representations zoomorfas may be part of their body. In contrast, the god K´inich Ajaw for the most common symbol was the ramming of four flower petals glyph K´in (Sun, day, time and party), which refers to the four directions of the cosmos, the head of the solar deity was used to represent the number four.

All in all, it is impossible to explain the causes that produce the most diverse natural phenomena created an imaginary world formed by supernatural beings. For this reason it is relevant to know about similarities and differences between to significant gods, Itzamna and K´inich Ajaw.

By: Diana Palacios