Zumbul-che

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'Zumbul-che', a pre-Hispanic Maya sweat-bath ritual, performed to purify mind and body. This sacred ritual, similar to the Aztec's Temazcal sweat-bath, began with a sacred Caracol melodious sound and meditation ceremony. Natural caves were use as sacred sites to perform spiritual and initiation ceremonies that included Zumbul-che rituals. Many Zumbul-che sweat-bath temples were built in ancient Maya cities such as Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Palenque.

After the initial mystical calls of the Caracol or conch shell sounds, the initiation participants gather inside the cave or temple where purifying sweat bath was performed to cleanse the mind and body from toxins and impurities. Maya herbals and copal incense were placed in pure cenote spring water, heated with hot stones, to create a cleansing vapor and heat that helped the body reach up to 104°F (40° C ). Today, this curative cleansing ceremony is still performed, mostly by J’Meen or Maya medicine man in villages, as a healing and therapeutic experience in Yucatan, Mexico.