The word Pyramid brings the images of Egypt, Nile, and desert to a person’s mind. Of course, the whole world knows that ancient Egyptians mummified their dead rulers and buried them in their pyramids. The dead in this case were the Pharaohs of Egypt and as rulers of their kingdom, it was but obvious that their tombs should also be grand, so as to suit their stature.
Keeping in view the above facts, if a question is asked as to – where is the world’s largest Pyramid? Or, the world’s largest pyramid is located in which country? A vast majority of people will say that it is in Egypt. However, the world’s largest pyramid is not in Egypt but is a very old structure in the new world, which is present in the beautiful country of Mexico. The Great Pyramid of Cholula, is located approximately 12 kilometers from the city of Puebla, which is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla in Mexico.
So why do people of the world as a whole know so less about the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico, when compared to the ones in Egypt? Among many reasons, one of the most important ones is that it was not visible as a Pyramid or a man-made monument but appeared more like a natural hill. It lay buried for centuries under the soil (and dirt), vegetations/trees and even a church, that the Spanish conquerors built over what they believed to be a hilltop.
As has been already said, there is a lot of misconception among the ordinary people regarding, the world’s largest pyramid, hence before delving deeper into our discussion of the ancient structure, some important statistics regarding the world’s largest pyramid in Mexico, should be first described. Guinness Book of Records describes the Great Pyramid of Cholula not only as the World’s Largest Pyramid but also, as the largest monument to be ever constructed. This can be easily understood, when we check the Aztec name for this structure, which is “Tlachihualtepetl” meaning man-made mountain.
The base of the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico has a size of 450 meters by 450 meters, which is 4 times greater than the pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The height of this pyramid in Mexico is 66 meters. The volume is 4.45 million cubic meters (comparatively the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt is of only 2.25 million cubic meters, though height is greater i.e. of 139 meters).
When thinking about the structure, the first and most important question that comes to mind is – Who Built the Great Pyramid of Cholula? The answer to that would vary depending on whom you ask.
The Aztecs credit “Xelhua” a giant of Aztec mythology, with building the Great Pyramid of Cholula. According to ancient legends, a huge flood which occurred very long time ago managed to destroy all living things in Anahuac (the ancient core of Mexico), except 7 giants, who survived by hiding into caves. After the water level went down, the architect among the giants “Xelhua” decided to thank and honor, the supreme god of rain in Aztec religion – Tlaloc, for saving their lives. For this, he decided to build an enormous pyramid in Cholula. As the top of the monument, began to touch the clouds, it invoked fury from the gods for the audacity of a bare mortal to surpass his defined limits. A shower of fire on the pyramids, was their answer, which stopped any further continuation of the work.
As would be expected, archaeologists searching for the answer to the question as to, who built the great pyramid of Cholula, were not amused by the story of a giant building the world’s largest pyramid. Unfortunately, even after an extensive search, the identity of the builder who initiated the constriction could not be established. Only a date emerged, that somewhere between 300 BC to 200 BC, the construction of the pyramid had begun.
The area around Cholula has been inhabited for a very long period. At its heyday, the city had around 100,000 people living in the area. There was a good reason for this. This sacred city also happened to be a major commercial center. Of course, it would be much later that the Spanish, would appear in the scenario and till then the power struggle and finally control of the city would be limited to different ethnicities of ancient natives living in the area. This mainly would be Olmecs, Toltecs, and Aztecs ruling in turn. The Great Pyramid of Cholula, would remain a mute spectator to the actions of all these people and upheavals that were to come in the future.
Different ethnic groups that dominated the area left their indelible mark on the pyramid. Each of them wanted to add their own contribution to the pyramid and hence built and improved upon the structure present previously. So, the final pyramid was formed by 6 structures, superimposed upon each other. These contributions by different ethnic groups are the major reason that the final structure created was such mammoth in nature.
The creators of the new structure did try sometimes to ensure that the finer parts of earlier construction would remain visible & it remained an elegant religious structure for around a millennium. However, nothing lasts forever and this glorious monument was abandoned around the 8th century CE, as the population of the city radically reduced.
The area went into the hands of people of Toltec ethnicity, around the year 1200 AD, when they built a new temple of Quetzalcoatl, away from the ancient pyramid, which by this time was already covered by vegetation. Building new temples ensured that the city still retained its religious importance. In 1359, Cholula again fell to the kingdom of Huexotzingo, who were traditional enemies of the Aztecs. However, the final blow to Cholula would come in the hands of Spanish, who would appear in the scene almost a century and a half later.
By the time the Spaniards arrived in 1519, the city of Cholula with its 100,000 population was one of the largest cities of Mexico, possibly 2nd only to Tenochtitlan (modern may Mexico City), which was the Aztec capital of the time. 12th October 1519 would be a dark day for the city. The nobles and warriors of the city (which at the time was part of Aztec empire), who had come to meet Hernan Cortes, were massacred in the central plaza (the numbers vary between 3000 to 30,000) & then the Spanish forces went on to partially burn down the city.
The city and its people had paid a tremendous price. However, the Great Pyramid of Cholula was saved from destruction, because it was no longer visible as the monument which it really was. In its place stood a hill with green vegetations. Although the pyramids survived, many other old relics would gradually disappear. The age of Spanish imperialism had begun.
The Great Pyramid of Cholula was believed to be made up of bricks formed by mixing mud with certain other materials. This may have been an important reason for the growth of lush green vegetation over the structure once the structure was abandoned and ignored. This overgrowth of wild plants over the ancient monument is the most important reason, that it got so perfectly blended with the surroundings, so as not to be detectable by the Spanish invaders. The world’s largest pyramid in Mexico may not have survived to this day if it had been detected by the invading forces of the Spanish explorers.
The Gods of the Natives
Technically, this massive structure was not exactly a Pyramid but a temple for religious purpose. In the period before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, it was “Quetzalcoatl” the feathered serpent god mostly worshipped by Aztecs (and some other native population), who was worshipped in Cholula, giving it the distinction of a religious city.
Quetzalcoatl, the god of wind and learning was one of the important gods of the Aztec pantheon. He was believed to be represented by different animals like birds (Resplendent quetzals, Macaws, and Crows) and Rattlesnakes. The wind manifestation (form) of the god was represented by ducks, spider monkeys, and the physical wind.
Meso - Americans had polytheistic religion and besides Quetzalcoatl, some other gods also found important roles during special occasions. A fact which is a testimonial to this is the dark practice of human sacrifice, which was sometimes carried out by ancient natives, as proven by the presence of human bones around the pyramid structure. The bones belonged to children who were beheaded to appease & convey a message to the rain god “Tlaloc”, during what is believed to be a harsh period of drought. Deformed skulls of the children have been found on the site.
It was this misplaced faith in God, that was one of the important reasons that the native population lost to Spanish conquerors. The Aztec emperor of the time, Moctezuma II had ordered the leaders of Cholula to stop the Spanish invaders. However, the city had a very small army and had no intention to fight, as the people believed that God would take care of their problem. But maybe god had thought that the people would solve their own problems themselves, so he (or they) did not interfere. The religious centers were looted and had treasures removed, the people were killed and the city was set on fire. The Spanish had won and they decided to thank their god, by building a church atop a hill, which accidentally was the Great Pyramid of Cholula.
The Church of Our Lady of Remedies (Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Los Remedios)
The Spanish had won a great victory and were grateful to god, for blessing them. As a result, the Church of Our Lady of Remedies was built above the hilltop covering the pyramid. In fact, there is a popular saying that before the Spanish conquest, Cholula had 365 temples, which after the colonial conquest were replaced by 365 churches, 1 for every day of the year. In truth, however, only 37 churches are present in the city.
The Church of Our lady of Remedies was built in 1594. This church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, holding a triple crowned staff and the child Christ. The Lady of Remedies is the patron of the city of Cholula and the church is a major pilgrimage destination for Catholics (although the celebration of indigenous rites is also done nearby, by descendants of ancient natives, living in the area). The church has been designated as a colonial monument and its historic and religious significance has prevented extensive excavation and restoration of the pyramid below.
After disappearing from the face of the earth for many centuries, in the late 19th century, the pyramid was again rediscovered and its secrets began to unravel. A Swiss-born American archaeologist – Adolph Bandelier, who arrived in Cholula in 1881 was one of the first to seriously study the structure. Besides precisely measuring the structure and deciphering significantly the construction process, he also discovered multiple burial sites around the pyramid and collected the skulls for study. His findings were published in 1884.
In spite of this, the real exploration of the Pyramid started much later, in 1931 by the architect – Ignacio Marquina, who had previously helped with excavation done in Teotihuacan (another Mexican archaeological pyramidal site of considerable importance); he dug tunnels to explore the structure. Marquina spent very little time on the site and all the real work was done by Mario Gomez, the guardian taking care of the site, who instructed the digging of tunnels. Besides providing an entrance to the pyramid (which was absent during the time), these tunnels have helped a lot in understanding the successive layers of the Pyramid and details of its inner structure.
These tunnels (which now measure 8 km long) have helped archaeologists in excavation, which have revealed alters filled with offerings, beautiful murals on the wall, buried human remains, ceramic materials, clay figures, and other valuable artifacts. However, compared to other pyramids of Mexico, The Great Pyramid of Cholula is much less understood and remains comparatively unknown. A great part of it still remains undiscovered and without much reconstruction by archaeologists.
A stranger looking from far (and in certain angles) may still confuse the pyramid for a natural hill on top of which sits a church. However, as mentioned previously, as a part of excavation efforts, enormous length of tunnels has been dug inside the structure. According to some estimate, this is almost 8-kilometre-long, of which only 800 meters are open for the public. These tunnels have provided many unique insights into the life of the people responsible for building the pyramid.
Almost half a million visitors from all around the world flocked to see this unintentional cultural fusion of the old (Mesoamerican) and New (Spanish) architectural wonder in 2017. Tourists (who are not claustrophobic) have been also allowed to visit the tunnels along with guides, where they can see replicas of some of the frescos that have been discovered, among other things. Another notable artifact is a multi-colored mural known as “The Drunkards” which shows life-sized human figures drinking liquid which may have been some kind of hallucinogenic potion.
Although the pyramid escaped destruction from foreign invaders many centuries ago but at present faces a serious threat from urbanization that is occurring all around. Some controversial reports mention that construction workers have unintentionally already damaged portions of the archaeological site, including areas never excavated before. This has created some friction between the authorities and people living in the area. It seems that the Largest Pyramid in the World, which had defied all interventions of fate and survived for thousands of years, may not be still out of harm’s way.