In Maya mythology, Chac (sometimes spelled "Chaac") was the god of rain and thunder, and important as a fertility and agriculture god. Maya mythology refers to the pre-Columbian Maya civilizations extensive polytheistic religious beliefs. ... Rain falling For other uses see Rain (disambiguation). ... Thunder is the sound of the shockwave caused when lightning instantly heats the air around it to up to 30 000 °C (54 000 °F). ...

Like some other Maya gods, Chac was sometimes thought of as one god, and other times as 4 separate gods based in the four cardinal directions: "Chac Xib Chac", Red Chac of the East; "Sac Xib Chac", White North Chac; "Ek Xib Chac" Black West Chac", and "Kan Xib Chac", Yellow East Chac.

In art, he was sometimes depicted as an old man with some reptilian or amphibian features, with fangs and a long nose, sometimes tears coming from his eyes (symbolizing rain) and carrying an axe (which caused thunder). He was associated with the frog. Genera Afrana Amietia Amnirana Amolops Aubria Batrachylodes Ceratobatrachus Chaparana Conraua Discodeles Euphlyctis Fejervarya Hildebrandtia Hoplobatrachus Huia Indirana Ingerana Lankanectes Lanzarana Limnonectes Meristogenys Micrixalus Minervarya Nannophrys Nanorana Nyctibatrachus Occidozyga Paa Palmatorappia Platymantis Pseudoamolops Pterorana Ptychadena Pyxicephalus Rana Sphaerotheca Staurois Strongylopus Tomopterna Frogs are amphibians in the Order Anura, which includes true...

Other Maya terms used to refer to Chac include Ah Tzenul, ("he who gives food away to other people"), Hopop Caan ("he who lights the sky"), and Ah Hoya ("he who urinates").

Names for the Rain God in other Mesoamerican cultures include Cocijo (Zapotec) and Tlaloc (Aztec). Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... Zapotec refers to a native people of Mexico, their language family consisting of more than 15 languages, and their historic culture and traditions. ... Tlaloc, as depicted in the Magliabechi Codex Tlaloc was, in Aztec mythology, the god of rain and fertility. ... The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. ...

While most of the ancient Mesoamerican gods are long forgotten by the descendants of the original inhabitants today, prayers to the Chaacs, most generally as a routine and not in times of drought, are documented in Yucatán as continuing into the 21st century among nominal Christian Maya farmers. Anthropologists have documented other prayers still in use which are identical to pre-Columbian prayers to Chac except that the name Chac has been replaced by that of Saint Thomas. Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. ... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. ...

Chac should not be confused with the Maya-Toltec figure Chac Mool. Chac-Mool is the name given to a type of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican stone altar. ...

External links

• Review of the film: Chac: The Rain God