File:Balankanche2 cyark.jpg

English: This image shows artifacts (primarily incense burners carved in the image of the goggle-eyed rain deity Tlaloc) surrounding the great limestone column of Balankanche, stretching from floor to ceiling and very much resembling the ancient Maya conception of the World Tree (Wacah Chan). In ancient Maya belief systems, a cave is a sacred place. Caves offer a portal to Xibalba, the Maya underworld, where the spirits of the valiant dead tangle with supernatural beings, and the roots of the great World Tree are found. From here, these roots extend through the earthly realms of the forests up to the celestial heavens of the mountains. Caves are seen as the mouths of the Witz mountain spirits, and water is seen as having its origin deep within them, issuing forth as rain or rivers. The limestone karst landscape of the Yucatan is possessed of a great many caves, and most Maya cities have several which were used as elite temples for ceremonial purposes, mainly those involved in the invocation of water and crop fertility (corn is also seen as having originated in Xibalba).