Autumnal Equinox

When the sun hits the Mayan pyramid of Kukulcan just so, a series of interlocking triangles of light and shadow are created that represent, for the people of Chichen Itza, the body of a snake. (The last triange falls on a stone serpent head at the temple’s base.) Although the “snake body” can be seen for eight days before and eight days after the season change, it is most pronounced on the day of the equinox. Approximately forty thousand tourists turn out each year to glimpse the striking, and fleeting, shadow-play