Xibalba, the Maya underworld
Xibalba is the underworld in Maya belief, a place ruled by gods of death. It is best known from the Popol Vuh, a K'iche' Maya text. Caves and cenotes were seen as doorways to it.
Xibalba in the Popol Vuh
In the Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque travel to Xibalba, survive a series of deadly houses and trials, and defeat its lords. The name is often translated as "place of fear".
Why cenotes and caves
Openings into the earth led down into darkness and water, so the Maya treated them as thresholds to Xibalba. Many caves contain altars, offerings and burials.
Xibalba today
Some tourist parks and dive sites use the name Xibalba for their cenotes. These are modern names, not proof that a specific cenote was the mythical entrance.
The Lords of Xibalba
According to the Popol Vuh, Xibalba was ruled by twelve Lords. The senior ones were Hun-Came ("One Death") and Vucub-Came ("Seven Death"); the others each caused a kind of sickness or death. Visitors faced tests in a series of deadly houses and in the Xibalba ballcourt.
The houses of trials
In the Popol Vuh, visitors to Xibalba had to survive a series of deadly houses: the Dark House, Razor House, Cold House, Jaguar House, Fire House and Bat House. The Hero Twins survived each one by trickery.
The ballgame story
The twins' father and uncle, Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, were summoned to Xibalba to play the ballgame and were killed. Years later the Hero Twins answered the same summons, beat the lords at their own games and finally tricked them by 'sacrificing' and reviving themselves, then refusing to revive the lords.
Where the story comes from
The Popol Vuh was written down by the K'iche' Maya of highland Guatemala in the 1500s and copied by the friar Francisco Ximénez in the early 1700s; his copy is the one that survives.
New to cenotes? Start with our main guide: what is a cenote. Ready to visit? See the best cenotes in Tulum. Want to swim near the ruins? See the cenotes near Chichén Itzá, including Cenote Ik Kil.
Xibalba: frequently asked questions
Is Xibalba the same as hell?
Not exactly. It is an underworld of death and disease, but not a place of punishment for sins in the Christian sense.
Where is the entrance to Xibalba?
Maya belief placed entrances in caves, cenotes and still water, not in one single spot. Several caves in Guatemala and Belize are linked to the name.
Is Xibalba a real place?
It is a place in Maya belief, not a single physical location, though caves and cenotes were treated as its entrances.
What does Xibalba mean?
It is commonly translated as "place of fear" or "place of fright".
Who rules Xibalba?
Hun-Came (One Death) and Vucub-Came (Seven Death), the senior of twelve Lords of Xibalba in the Popol Vuh.