London: Apparently, according to an ancient Mayan calendar, the world as we know it is supposed to come to an end on Friday (today), December 21, 2012, but the residents of the Mayan village of Yaxuna in the Mexican state of Yucatan say it means the end of an old era and the heralding of a new one, not a time for all of us to die.
“It’s an era. We are lucky to see how it ends,” said wood carver Santos Esteban in Yaxuna, a sleepy village of fewer than 700 Maya, in a territory that once belonged to the ancient kingdom founded around 2000 BC.
He feels this is a momentous occasion and is looking forward to the start of the new era. “Lots of people say it’s the end of the world, but we don’t believe that,” CNN quoted him as saying.
For those less optimistic, an “official” website in the United States has collected links to all doom articles and videos that Internet users can consume. December212012.com offers tips on survival and carries ads for gear that one might need, ranging from gas masks to first-aid kits and hand-cranked radios.
Though 21/12/12 marks a somewhat congruent date on the Western calendar, the Mayan calendar enumerates the event in a different way, CNN reports.
The ancient people measured time in cycles called baktun of 394 years each, and the winter solstice due today marks the end of the 13th baktun. Those who have studied the calendar say the date for the end of the period is not Friday, but actually Sunday.
The calendar is based on the position of the sun, moon and stars – and was meant to tell the Maya people about agricultural and economic trends, says archaeologist Alfredo Barrera.
Photo Courtesy: AP
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