palenque, maya entrance to the underworld

temple of inscriptions

One of the most renowned iconographic monuments in the Maya World was found within the Temple of the Inscriptions: the sarcophagus lid depicting Pakal at the moment of his death, falling into the Underworld, symbolized by a monster's jaw. Above the dead King rises the Wakah Kan, the World Tree and the Center of the Universe- with Itzam Ye, the Celestial bird perched on top representing the heavens. In order for the deified king buried here not to be cut off from the world of the living, a psychoduct -or a hollow tube in the form of a snake- runs off the side of the staircase, from the tomb to the temple.
http://www.palenquepark.com/inscriptions.htm