Ajijic's murals and muralists Part 4: Calle Colon from Zaragoza to Hidalgo

A pre-hispanic warrior with a skeletal face stands beside a snarling jaguar. The warrior wears a quetzal feather penacho (head dress) and is adorned with jewelry in his ears and around his neck and upper arms. His left hand is a torch and he blows a stream of smoke from his mouth. This mural is on Calle Zaragoza a few metes from its intersection with Calle Colon. The mural's symbolic images were important to pre-hispanic people, including skeletons, quetzal feathers, and tigres (jaguars). The last two are associated with pre-hispanic royalty, while skulls and other images of death were ubiquitous in ancient Mexico.

In this part of my series, I will show some of the murals that are visible while walking south along Colon between Zaragoza and Calle Hidalgo. The images in these murals celebrate Mexico's culture and history, both ancient and modern. The next posting (Part 5) of the series will continue down Colon, from Hidalgo to the lakeshore pier. 

The Virgin of Guadalupe appears in a mural next to the warrior. Both murals are actually on Zaragoza, but are easily visible from Colon. I was unable to find a signature or date on either one. The Virgen de Guadalupe image has most of the classic elements, including her pose, the golden halo around her, the color of her clothes, the roses at her feet, and the Mexican flag. The meaning and history of all of these elements were explained in a previous post. The inclusion of the American flag may be a nod to the historic (although somewhat rocky) relationship between the two countries. 

A huge piña decorates the northeast corner of Colon and Zaragoza. The piña (pineapple) is a fruit that originated in the Western Hemisphere, probably in the region between Brazil and Paraguay. It arrived in Mexico thousands of years ago through ancient trade routes. The fruit was carefully cultivated and soon became an important pre-hispanic agricultural product. Europeans first encountered piñas when the Spanish conquered the Taino people of the Caribbean islands. After conquering Mexico, the Spanish began large-scale cultivation of piñas for export to Europe. I could find no artist's signature or date on the mural.

A pre-hispanic woman juggles green crystals on the wall of Galeria Lobo. She wears a mollusk shell head dress, topped by the head of a fox. Because of their color, green stones were considered to represent the Water God Tlaloc. The spiraling shells of mollusks represented the cyclical nature of the cosmos, fertility and renewal. They also represented the Wind God Ehecatl, whose temples were built in spiral shapes, rather than as pyramids. Pre-hispanic people admired foxes because of their cunning ability to avoid hunters. The muralist, Kenia Paoce, painted the image on Galeria Lobo's wall in 2024. 

A peaceful river scene appears over the doorway of a Vietnamese restaurant. "Let's Pho" is on the west side of Colon, a few doors south of Galeria Lobo. There are a number of good Asian restaurants here, including at least one other Vietnamese called "Chopsticks". There are also several Thai, and some Chinese. I have not yet tried this one, but it looks interesting and I do like Vietnamese food.

Plaza de Ajijic, cerca 1929-30, viewed from its northwest corner. This scene was painted from an historical photo, taken just after the three-year conflict known as the Cristero War (1926-29). There was considerably less vegetation in the Plaza at that time than there is today. Close observers will note that the Parroquia church in the background has no clock next to the steeple. The clock we see today was installed some time in the 1940s. Ajijic was a far sleepier pueblo in this scene than the one we experience today. Instead of four people, today you are more likely to encounter scores or even hundreds.

The mural was painted by Javier Lopez Vega, one of Lake Chapala's foremost artists and muralists. He is a talented and prolific artist who uses the legends, myths, and symbolism of pre- and post-hispanic Mexico as the basis for this work. He is also a great guy and a personal friend of mine. He has recently begun painting murals using iconic photos of local scenes like the one above. Another of his photo-murals can be seen in Part 2 of this series and more of his murals will appear in later postings. 

A mural titled "Sangrias de Mayo" covers the south side of the Delegación de Ajijic. Located on the southwest corner of Colon and Hidalgo, it covers the whole wall of the two-story building. The Delegación is the local Ajijic office of the Municipio de Chapala. A municipio is the equivalent of a U.S. county. The artist, Javier Zaragoza, provided an explanation of this extraordinary mural at its bottom. It translates as follows:

"During the spring days of May, all the small villages along the bank of the Lake gathered in order to celebrate the greatest vigil of the year and to invoke Tlaloc, Lord of the Celestial Waters, and Chalchihuitlicue, the Lady of Jade and Turquoise Who Scatters the Waters, and Michihuali, the female Goddess of Fish who is guardian of our Mother Lake of Ajijic. The ceremony reinforced the alliance with the gods, thanked them for the annual agricultural cycle, and asked for it to continue." The next six photos will be details of this mural.

A couple of drummers provides some of the music for the ceremony. A window was used to portray a tlalpanhuehuetl (large, standing drum), with a well-muscled man pounding out a rhythm on it. A smaller man looks reverently to the sky as he slaps the playing surface of his huehuetl (a smaller drum). A young woman extends her hands, palm up, in a prayerful gesture for rain. The mural's scene is set in 1472, almost 50 years before Hernán Cortéz first led his his conquistadores ashore on the Gulf Coast Mexico. 

Javier Zaragoza is another of Ajijic's prominent artists and muralists. He apparently used living people as models for the main figures in this mural. The mural was originally painted in May 2008 and then restored and repainted in August 2013. Many of Ajijic's murals have had to undergo this process because of fading paint. Another cause is salitre (potassium nitrate), which leaches up from the ground into the cement walls and causes the plaster to blister and fall off.

Three young women pray for a good planting season. They stand behind various offerings, including flowers, squash, nopal cactus, and a pot burning a substance which is probably copal incense.  The women are dressed in clothing typical of that worn by pre-hispanic women when the Spanish first arrived. Their white tops are sleeveless garments called huiples, decorated by colorful embroidery. From the waist to the ankles, they are covered by what are called iztac cuétl ("white skirts"). Garments such as these were woven from cotton on back-strap looms.

Two other men appeal to the gods. The man on the right wears a cotton loin cloth called a maxtlatl, and ankle rattles called ayayotes coyoleras. The rattles were seed pods filled with small pebbles and attached to pieces of leather strapped around the ankles. The pebbles make the rhythmic rattling sound. The man in the middle is wearing an elite garment called a tilmátli. This was a cotton cape, worn over the loincloth, and knotted over the left shoulder. The fact that he is the only man wearing a timátli suggests that he is an important figure. In the background, a crowd of indigenous people looks on respectfully. 

Behind the foreground group, a circle of people dances on the shore of Lake Chapala. Dust rises as their feet strike the ground in time with the beat of the drummer sitting on the left. Some of the dancers wear ankle rattles, while others carry hand rattles. The whole scene looks very upbeat and energetic.

At the top right of the mural, above the celebration, is Tlaloc. The God of the Celestial Waters was viewed as both beneficial and dangerous. He provided rain, which was vital for the crops which sustained the life of the people. However, he could also wreak havoc with lightning, wild storms, and floods. Staying on his good side was therefore extremely important. He had four celestial assistants called Tlaloque, who represented the Four Cardinal Directions. These sub-gods attended to large clay pots containing water for rain. Thunder was created when they broke the pots to release the rain from the sky.

Chalchihuitlicue appears at the top left side of the mural. She was Tlaloc's wife/consort, but was an important goddess in her own right. Chalchihuitlicue was the deity of running water, lakes, rivers, fertility, and the patron of childbirth. Above, she pours seeds from her hands the seeds to create plants. Like the figures at the bottom of the mural, both Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlicue appear to have been modeled on real people.

This completes Part 4 of my Ajijic Murals series. I hope you have enjoyed it, If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

The Murals of Ajijic Part 3: The Artists' Alley & Calle Parroquia

A pair of cheerful-looking skeletons sail the Lake on a paper boat. A red sun glows in the background, while small red globes float nearby. Between the male and female skeletons is a bouquet of maravillas (marigolds). Skeletons and marigolds are both elements of the annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Skeletons symbolize deceased relatives or friends. Paths of marigolds leading to family altars help guide the dead back for a visit. The scene, painted by the artist Aldo Varela, is another example of the lighthearted Mexican view of death. 

This scene forms the left end of a mural which stretches along the south side of the andador (walking street) known as Artists' Alley. The andador leads from Calle Castellanos to Plaza de Ajijic. More murals decorate the north side of Artists' Alley. I am not including those because some of them have appeared in my previous postings, while others were obstructed by vendors' booths, so I couldn't photograph them. In addition to Artists' Alley, this posting will also show the murals along Calle Parroquia. This street leads from the Parroquia  (Parish) church one block to Calle Colon, along the south side of the Plaza.

The rest of Sr. Valela's mural contains this unusual pair. On the right is a seated woman wearing gold jewelry and a jaguar head dress. The jaguar is an animal with deep symbolic meaning in Mexico. The big cats were revered in pre-hispanic times because of their power and their tendency to hunt at night. To the ancient people, this suggested that the creature could travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. In many ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, jaguars became the totems of warrior societies and of royalty. 

The woman's closed eyes and hand gestures suggest that she is praying. Meanwhile, a school of fish swims demurely by.  In front of her, a rooster stands on a reddish globe, similar to the other globes shown floating in the Lake. The skeletal figure wears jewelry similar to that of the woman. The head dress of the skeletal figure is made from the skull of a large bird of prey. With his right hand, he brandishes a staff or wand, while his left had makes a gesture that that seems to invite the viewer to approach. 

A mariachi band composed of roosters entertains a small audience of the same species. The  tiny plaza above resembles Seis Esquinas (Six Corners), located in the western part of Ajijic. My wife and I lived near there during our first year in Mexico. In pueblos like Ajijic, the crowing of roosters, along with church bells and barking dogs, are part of life's background music. Mariachis are another ubiquitous fact of life here. The pueblo of Cocula, about an hour's drive from Ajijic, claimes to be the birthplace of mariachi music. Cocula is proud of its Mariachi Museum, which contains photos, instruments, and mariachi costumes.

Murals along Calle Parroquia

A mural covers the entire front (north side) of a local elementary school. Escuela Primaria Marcos Castellanos stands on the corner of Calles Parroquia and Marcos  Castellanos. In my last posting, I showed you the Mural de los Muertos (Wall of the Dead), which covers the east side of this school. Both the mural above and the Wall of the Dead were the creations of Efrén González, one of the most prominent artists in Ajijic. Since the mural is huge and very complex, so I will show it section by section, in the following seven photographs.

The Goddess of the Lake. On the far left end of the mural is Teomichihuali. Her Nahuatl name is pronounced tay-o-meechee-wallee. She is the goddess who protects the Lake and everything living along its shore. Teomichihuali was seen as a benevolent deity by the pre-hispanic Coca people who inhabited the area when the Spanish arrived. Above, she blows a gentle breeze across the Lake, while holding a lit candle in her outstretched hand, Below her, three women lounge on the lakeshore. One of them holds up an infant to suckle at the goddess' breast. 

Several nymphs perch in a tree while pouring jugs of water onto the ground. Three turtles, sacred in pre-hispanic times, climb the roots of the tree toward the nymphs. The feeling of this scene is very peaceful and sensual. I am often startled at the murals that appear on local elementary school walls. They often contain nudity and sometimes images that are quite violent. All this would probably cause a considerable uproar among parents at U.S. schools, but it doesn't seem to faze Mexican parents or their kids.

Another image of the Lake Goddess appears over the main door of the school. This image is particularly complex. A Great White Heron flies to the left of the goddess and a large parrot soars on the right. Surrounding her neck are a pair of large hands, from which a torrent of fish spills into the Lake.  One of her extended arms holds a large rattlesnake, which seems to symbolize natural wildness. In her right hand, she grasps a lever connected to a large industrial complex, symbolizing modern industrial civilization. Some of the other images below her will be shown in succeeding photos. 

A snake, a waterspout, and daily life. From the open mouth of the rattlesnake, a huge tromba (waterspout) emerges. A similar tromba occurred in 2007, during our first year here. It hit the lakeshore, resulting in catastrophic landslides down the mountain arroyos. To the left a large búho (owl) spreads its wings, while on the right, a bat glides over the water.  Along the lakeshore a man carries a large basket of sandías  (watermelons) toward a boat partially filled with the fruit. He supports his load with a tumpline, an extremely ancient method transporting goods. Under a palm frond, a woman sits, while eating sandía.

Another of the mural's complex scenes. In a bubble, a campesino (farmworker) tends his crops, which include maiz (corn) and sandía. Below the bubble, a fire rages while a bare-chested young man carrying a staff looks on. In the foreground is a jumble of pre-hispanic clay pots called ollitas. These small pots were used for offerings to Teomichihuali. The Cocas put drops of blood, tears or sacred objects inside, after which the little containers were thrown into the Lake. In modern times, when the water level has dropped, hundreds of ancient ollitas have been found near the shore.

A group of young men cavort under a tree growing on a tiny island. There is much going on here. One youth pulls up a fish as several large schools swarm below the water. Another prepares to fire an arrow at a bird. A third man reaches for one of the fruits hanging off the tree, while his friend pounds the drum in his lap. This scene appears to be a counterpart to the group of young women located on the other side of the main door. No one in either group appears to take notice of the other.

A Sun God exhales light, heat, and a flock of white birds. The Coca people primarily worshipped Teomichihuali, so it is not clear who this god is. However, the Mexica (Aztec) deity Huitzilopochtli was god of the sun, so this may be a reference to him. Below the Sun God, people in a fishing camp, carry out various acts of daily life. While one man eats from a plate, one woman waters a plant while another plays with her baby. A second man heads toward the Lake to collect water in a couple of pots. A large fishing net dries in the background. This scene forms the far right end of the mural.

Other murals along the Parroquia

A mound of fruit, framed by maguay plants, adorns the wall across from the school. In the scene, a man loads his boat while others look on. This mural is almost directly opposite the front door of the Marcos Castellanos school. There is no signature, but the style is almost certainly that of Efrén Gonzalez. This work seems to celebrate the extraordinary fertility of the land around Lake Chapala. Most of these fruits can be found growing on the lakeshore. There is a window in the wall to the left of the mural where freshly squeezed fruit juice can be purchased.

A skeleton and a friendly-looking pooch guard this door. This mural is a few meters to the right (west) of the school mural. Part of it extends over the top of the entrance of the Plazapato shoe store to the mural's right. The composition is a direct reference to Dia de los Muertos. There is the skeleton, of course, but also the profusion of marigolds and ten lit candles. I previously mentioned the significance of skeletons and marigolds, but the candles are also important. They light the way for deceased relatives who seek to reunite with their living counterparts for a brief visit.

A beautiful portrait of a much-loved pet. This is so detailed and lifelike that it probably represents a dog belonging to the artist or the person who commissioned the mural. The name "Honey" is on the dog's heart-shaped tag. Given the mural's context, it is very likely that this is a memorial to dog who has passed over to the next world. The bereaved owner may be hoping for a visit from the former pet on the Day of the Dead. The artist is Abril Durán her mural is dated 2025. She titled her work El guardian fisico y espiritual ("The physical and spiritual guardian").

A young girl joyfully kicks over a basket of flowers. The various flowers and plants above would be recognized by anyone who regularly walks the streets of this pueblo. I have always liked this mural's energy and vivid colors. It is actually one of the older murals in the area. An accompanying sign says "Lake Chapala Garden Club, 40 years on Lakeside, 1977-2017".  The dates suggest that it was completed in 2017, but there is no artist's signture. The mural was painted on an extension above the sidewalk near the intersection with Calle Colon.

This concludes Part 3 of my series on Ajijic's mural art. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please be sure to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim