Los voladores de Papantla

Last updated: 08.05.2002

Photographs of a voladores ritual taken at El Tajin, Veracruz in 1999.

The 'voladores de Papantla' are Totonac Indians, and the voladores rite is a traditional act of worship (now most often performed as entertainment for tourists, as in these pictures). The voladores climb to the top of a tall pole, wind ropes around the pole, and then leap off into the air. As the ropes unwind, they descend slowly to the ground.