Which feathered serpent god was worshipped by the Maya?

Kukulkan was the feathered serpent god worshipped by the Yucatec Maya. His name is commonly translated as “Plumed Serpent” or “Feathered Serpent,” and major temples dedicated to him stood at Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Mayapan in the Yucatán Peninsula.

Kukulkan belongs to a wider Mesoamerican tradition of feathered-serpent deities. He is closely related to Qʼuqʼumatz among the Kʼicheʼ Maya and Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, but those are regional names and traditions rather than interchangeable answers to every question. This distinction is the main reason the alternatives can be confusing.

Kukulkan’s roots reach back to Classic Maya religious imagery, including the Vision Serpent and the War Serpent known as Waxaklahun Ubah Kan. At Chichen Itza, the pyramid now called El Castillo is associated with his worship. Around the equinoxes, sunlight and the pyramid’s stepped design create a famous descending-serpent shadow effect, although the precise ancient intention behind the effect remains debated.