Tamascal - the Mayan in-Home Sauna

Kiwa tuj - que rico es el Tamascal - how rich is the sauna

in K'iche', Spanish, and English

A Tamascal is the ancient Mayan in-home sauna. It is still widely used in many rural communities. Not all houses have one, so I am so glad that I have access to one in my house. It gets so hot in there! I generally flatten myself as low as possible to the floor to try and be at the coolest part.

It is a great family bonding experience. My host family has a big Tamascal that can fit about seven people laying down. Every two or three days all of the women and girls in the family go in together. It took them a couple months to invite me to join them in the sauna, and the first time I went in in my shorts and tank top I found out why. Most of the women and girls go in in a bra and underwear, but most of the older women just wear underwear.

According to another PCV's blog: "in Mayan spiritualism, the Tamascal is the place where the ancestral spirits reside. They say that a cold or sickness represents one being punished by the ancestors for doing something wrong. To cure oneself of the cold and to reconcile with the ancestors the Tamascal is the solution. Newborns are also placed in the Tamascal to meet their ancestors." Now I'm not sure how much of that is true or still believed, but Guatemalans of all ages use the Tamascal. My 4 year-old host-sister, Princess, and three-year old host-sister, Genesis, both get in the Tamascal. I often see them taking quick naps in there.

That little door on the bottom left is where you crawl in and out.

How it works: There is a sheet that they hang across the rope above the door and this is shut to keep all of the heat in. Inside it is totally dark except for a bare lightbulb. They fill that round metal bucket on the right with water and light a big fire under it. I am still a little nervous when I use the Tamascal because it seems to me like it would be easy to suffocate in one of these. There is also the issue of Guatemalans burning their plastic trash. I find this to be a horribly unhealthy habit, but it can be especially deadly when burned in the Tamascal. My host family does burn plastic, but only wood in the Tamascal.

Guatemalans use it not only as a sauna, but also to bathe. After they are done in the sauna they sit right outside of it and use the water heated up by the fire (mixed with cold water) to take bucket baths. Minako (the Japanese volunteer) and I both use the Tamascal from time to time, but we shower downstairs in the bathroom. I'm not sure we are THAT integrated enough yet to bathe with all of the women of the family.

A view from the inside

The metal and rock contraption on the inside of the Tamascal covers the fire, so when they throw water on this contraption it immediately turns to steam and heats up the Tamascal.

You can't stand inside of the Tamascal - it is only probably 5 feet high on the inside (nor would you want to - it's way too hot).

Another cool thing about the Tamascal is that they use small leafy branches of this special plant (I've asked but I'm still not sure what it is called) to wave the hot air down to themselves mixed with the scent of the plant. I think it is similar to eucalyptus. They also gently hit themselves with these branches which apparently helps "quitar el cansancio" remove tiredness from your limbs / body. So as I am laying on my back in the Tamascal in my shorts and tank top, sweating up a storm, I hear the gentle thwack thwack thwack of branches hitting skin. I'm not sure if this has done anything for me, but I go along with the routine.

This more accurately shows what it looks like from the inside while in-use