{"id":2389,"date":"2018-08-18T07:38:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T07:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=2389"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:46:13","slug":"tlaloc-aztec-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/tlaloc-aztec-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Tlaloc (Aztec God): A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tlaloc was one of the most significant gods in all of Aztec mythology<\/a>. Tlaloc was the Aztec god<\/a> of rain, water, and fertility. He was often depicted with large, round eyes and fangs, symbolizing his power over storms and the life-giving force of water. While he could bring abundance with rain, he was also feared for his ability to unleash destructive floods and droughts if not properly honored. As such, he was a god that was respected and celebrated by the Aztec people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

AZTEC GODS \u2013 OVERVIEW<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The concept of \u2018god\u2019 in\u00a0Aztec\u00a0society is referred to as \u2018Teotl\u2019 in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec<\/a>.\u00a0 The Aztecs, like other Mesoamerican societies, had a wide pantheon of gods.\u00a0 The gods in the\u00a0Aztec religion\u00a0represented different aspects of life and the world for the Aztec people.\u00a0 The aspects that the gods represented included: culture of Aztec society and Mesoamerica, nature and the natural world, creation stories, fertility, food, death and the underworld, trade and excess or entertainment.\u00a0 Each god had different attributes and personality traits and were usually represented in distinct ways by the Aztec.\u00a0 Some could take human or animal form and were celebrated in festivals and rituals.\u00a0 There were many\u00a0gods in the Aztec religion\u00a0but some of the most prominent included:\u00a0Huitzilopochtli<\/a>,\u00a0Quetzalcoatl<\/a>,\u00a0Tezcatlipoca<\/a>, Mictl\u0101nt\u0113cuhtli<\/a>,\u00a0Tlaloc, and Chicomec\u014d\u0101tl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aztec
Gods and religious traditions were an important part of Aztec culture. This image from the Codex Borbonicus, shows the Aztec gods: Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

TLALOC – SUMMARY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tlaloc was an important god in Aztec religion<\/a>.\u00a0 In Nahuatl, the Aztec language, Tlaloc translates to \u2018earth\u2019 and modern historians interpret the name as meaning \u2018he who is made of earth\u2019.\u00a0 The Aztecs considered him to be the god of rain, earthly fertility and water.\u00a0 He was a popular god throughout the Aztec Empire and widely recognized as a \u2018giver of life\u2019.\u00a0 The name Tlaloc is specific to the Aztec and their celebration of the rain god, however there is evidence of Mesoamerican people honoring a rain god going back to the city of Teotihuacan<\/a>\u00a0in the 1st century AD.\u00a0 As well, the Mayans worshipped a god similar to Tlaloc.\u00a0 While the Aztec considered Tlaloc to be a god that brought life, they also feared his wrath, because he also represented thunderstorms, floods, hail, and lightning.\u00a0 Due to his positive and negative nature he is often pictured with rain, maize (corn) and lightning.\u00a0 As well, his likeness is usually shown with goggled eyes and large fangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Aztec capital,\u00a0Tenochtitlan<\/a>, the Great Temple or Templo Mayor<\/a> was built to worship both Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli.\u00a0 There were two shrines built on top of the pyramid of Templo Mayor; one for both gods. This shows Tlaloc\u2019s importance to the Aztec religion and culture.\u00a0 Offerings for Tlaloc were placed in the shrine and\u00a0human sacrifices\u00a0were often carried out in front of both.\u00a0 However, there was another, more important place of worship for Tlaloc, which the Aztec referred to as Mount Tlaloc.\u00a0 It was a mountain on the eastern edge of the Valley of Mexico and reached over 13,500 ft (4,100 meters) into the air.\u00a0 Mount Tlaloc was just over 40 miles east of Tenochtitlan and Aztec people would often carry out pilgrimages to the site to honor the rain god.\u00a0 There was a shrine on the mountain called Tlalocan, in reference to the place in the \u2018upper world\u2019 or \u2018heavens\u2019 that Tlaloc was said to command.\u00a0 The Aztec held many festivals in honor of Tlaloc, which included the sacrifice<\/a> of children.\u00a0 The tears of the children were viewed as a good omen of rains for the harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan (Templo Mayor can be seen in the center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tlaloc was an important god in Aztec religion. For instance, in the Aztec capital,\u00a0Tenochtitlan, the Great Temple or Templo Mayor was built to worship both Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,80],"tags":[77,15,79],"class_list":["post-2389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aztec-empire","category-mesoamerica","tag-aztec-empire","tag-history","tag-mesoamerica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2389"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5790,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions\/5790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}