What is the name of the Mayan god of rain?

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What is the name of the Mayan god of rain? The Maya rain god is Chaac, also spelled Chac or Chaahk.

Chaac was associated not only with rain but also with thunder and lightning, making him central to agricultural life. Maya art commonly depicts him with a long, pendulous nose, fangs, reptilian or amphibian features, and a lightning axe. In mythological accounts, the axe could split open a mountain containing maize, linking rainfall, lightning, and the growth of crops.

Chaac was not always understood as one single figure. Maya traditions describe four directional Chaacs, connected with the cardinal directions and their colors. In Yucatán, the eastern deity was called Chac Xib Chaac, or “Red Man Chaac”; the other directional forms had different associated colors.

The Dresden Codex devotes substantial attention to the rain deities, and rain-seeking rituals continued in Yucatec Maya communities. Chaac is often compared with the Aztec rain god Tlaloc, but they belong to different religious traditions. It is also easy to confuse Chaac with Itzamna, Kukulkan, or Ah Puch, who had different roles.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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