The need for calendars
At the very beginning of their development as a civilization, the Maya had only a few ways to tell the time to enable them to decide when it was time to harvest the crops and to celebrate. As the civilization of the ancient Maya advanced, so did their knowledge of agriculture, astronomy, architecture and society. As a normal follow up to these events, a need arose - the need to be able to better define moments in time and mark events in the past, the present and the future.
Mayan Calendar Development
The Mayan culture reached its apogee during the Classical Period, around 250 AD. This is also the time when the Mayan cities emerged in their full glory and splendor. During this period, an advanced calendar system evolved, together with literacy, astronomy and architectural knowledge that amaze scientists even today.
The Mayan calendar is actually a calendar system, where several calendar cycles interconnect to form the understanding this ancient civilization had about the cosmos. Even though there were several different ways the Maya used to measure the time, it is not correct to say that the Maya had several different calendars, as these calendar cycles were connected with each other and were used to describe different moments in time.
The Short and Long Count
There were two major elements that the Maya calendar consisted of - the so-called Short Court and Long Court calendar cycles.
The Short Court calendar cycle covers 260 days and is considered to be the calendar the Maya used for their sacred rituals. Being exceptionally good at observing the sky and the path of other planets in the Solar System, the Maya introduced to their sacred calendar count the planetary cycles of Venus, Jupiter and Mercury, and, of course, the Sun and the Moon.
The Maya used their Short Court calendar to calculate various spiritual elements from their religion, such as birth energies when someone was born, to determine when it was time to celebrate, present a sacrifice to the deities, create prophecies, and practice healing, as well as divination of individuals and their destiny when someone was lucky enough to be born under a very special star when the energies were extremely powerful.
The Long Court, or the so-called Haab, is a calendar cycle of 365 days, and even though it does not exactly match the solar year, it is pretty close. This calendar was used for more 'normal' activities such as following when the crops were ready to be harvested, and setting a point in time for longer periods such as years and decades.
Even though the Mayan calendar is composed of several separate calendar cycles which the Maya used for different purposes, these elements should be seen as one. The way the Maya understood the cosmos and what was going on around them is amazing even today.
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