End of Mayan calendar: doomsday ‘cult’ members plan things at ‘world’s end’

London: As new Mayan era is going to begin on December 21, 2012, doomsday ‘cult’ members around the world have planned different things and picnics to celebrate the day.

Mexico is one of five countries preparing to observe the date, which marks the end of a more than 5,000-year era, according to the Mayan “Long Count” calendar, which began in 3114 BC.

For many people in this region, December 21 will be a date for celebration.

The start of the new Mayan calendar also is big business in five countries as tourism offices in no fewer.

Millions of tourists are expected to flood into the countries for celebrations that will include fireworks, concerts and other spectacles held at more than three dozen archaeological sites.

In addition to Mexico, celebrations will be held in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras, and at least two heads of state — President Otto Perez of Guatemala and President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras — have confirmed that they will take part in festivities in their respective countries.

And illuminati in Serbia are predicting that the pyramid-shaped mountain of Rtanj will glow on Friday night, which is also the solstice.

The village of Sirince in western Turkey has also become an apocalyptic magnet, with all 400 hotels in the vicinity fully booked. It is reputed to be doomsday-proof because the Virgin Mary is said to have risen to heaven from there.

Likewise the picturesque south Italian village of Cisternino, singled out by an Indian guru as a safe bet come the end of the world.

Or there is France’s apocalyptic spot of choice, the Pic de Bugarach in the foothills of the Pyrenees, though the site is cordoned off to keep out the hordes, and a local hotel will set you back 1,500 euros — payable in advance.

Short of a sacred site to weather the doomsday storm, there is always the man-made option of a good old bunker.

For 30,000 rubles ($970, 740 euros) per head, the wealthiest Muscovites can check into a Stalin-era communications bunker 65 metres (200 feet) underground, which is offering 300 people a 24-hour experience called “A chance to survive”.

Local television has put up tickets for the bunker in a prize draw, and will be broadcasting live from inside on the night — like a world’s end take on “Big Brother”.

In eastern France, the underground galleries of Schoenenbourg fort — part of the World War II Maginot line of defence — will exceptionally be thrown open to the public.

And in the United States, the growing ranks of “preppers” — who believe in planning for bad times, be it economic chaos or natural disasters — are more than ready for the end, if it comes, with everything from food stockpiles to pre-fabricated underground bunkers.

But elsewhere in Asia, the end of times will be the best of times, featuring a techno soundtrack and fine dining.

“This is potentially the very last dance so you know you’ve got to be there!” reads one flyer for the Ssky Bar in New Delhi.

For its “end-of-the-world party”, Sydney’s Shelbourne Hotel suggests that “if it’s curtains for us all, we might as well get loose and party this world away to the beat of a bass drum”.

In Hong Kong, the Aqua restaurant is promising to pick up the tab for its HK$2,112.12 ($273) six-course meal if the apocalypse does appear at hand — though patrons will have to stump up if still alive at midnight.

The mystical minded in Australia — where Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made a spoof video to announce the end of days — are laying on a Mayan solstice festival near Canberra featuring music and yoga.