Mayan “End Of Cycle” Celebration In New Bedford

A small group of Maya who are far from their homeland will gather at a private home in South Dartmouth today with candles, tobacco, and incense shippped from Guatemala to mark the end of a nearly 400-year cycle and the dawn of a new era.  

The ceremony is to close out the baktun, the nearloy 144,000 day Maya calendar.   In Guatemala and Mexico, resorts and the state have encouraged a focus on the so-called Mayan apocalypse, largely to lure Western tourist dollars to the country.