Some pyramids of Mexico

Its been 5 years that we are staying in Mexico. We had visited many tourist places during this time which includes some of the well know pyramid sites which dates back to the Aztec or Mayan civilizations and some are protected by the government till date .Mexico had a vibrant history thriving with civilizations in its different parts which had left indelitible mark on this earth with its architecture, culture,language,dress,food,business and so on and so forth. As per the history books the historians had divided its studies among 4 main periods:1)The Pre Classical Period(3500BC-300A.D).2)The Classical period(300A.D-900A.d).3)Post Classical period(900-1521A.d).4)The Spanish Conquest(1521-1810A.D).The MAyan civilization was dated to the Classical period and the Aztecs to the Post Classical periods.But there are numerous significant cultures like Olmecs,Toltecs,Teotihuacans etc who are responsible for shaping up the powerful civilizations like Maya and Aztec.The very first pyramid among them which I had visited was in Teotihuacan.

Since it is very near to Mexico city where I live I got chances to visit it 5 times or so and it always mesmerized me. It still beholds the aura and grandeur of its time.Its a UNESCO heritage site. The culture and architecture of teotihuacans are thought to have been influenced by the Olmec people which is considered mother civilization of the Mesoamerica(It refers to approximately todays Central America) .It has 2 big pyramids named Pyramid of Sun and Pyramid of moon and also there is Temple of Plumed Serpent God called Quetzalcóatl.This civilization also worshipped rain god name Tlaloc.The pyramids unlike Egypt are not meant to preserve kings or aristocracy after death but is mainly considered as religious sites. But here some rich human graves were found after excavations. Human sacrfices were also part of their religious practice and it is believed that they had Ball Game(juego de pelota) where the defeated teams were sacrificed. The pyramids site has 2 Big pyramids and also houses made for the people on 2 sides of the main avenue of the Deads as it is named. There are still tablets found with coloured paintings of Jaguars and other animals and birds.The city continued to have flourished till 7 or 8th century A.D and it was believed to have 200,000 population at its peak. Pyramid of the sun is the second largest pyramid in volume in the world.However its still unknown why such a flourishing city was suddenly abandoned by the city dwellers. There are many theories of drought,outside invasion or internal conflicts related to it.They didnt have any writing systems and most of the references of this city was found in Mayan writings which had adopted many of the Teotihuacan architecture techniques and styles.

The site has a museum which has a big replica of the pyramid site and also preserves figurines and skeletons found during the excavations.