The flame was ignited before in Q'umarkaj, one of the ancient cultural Mayan centers located in El Quiché, Guatemala.
It also refers to the K'iche' rulers forcing the King Q'uicab the great to leave Chaiviar (Chichicastenango), and migrate to the Ratzamut mountains to found Iximché, which remained new Kaqchikel capital until the arrival of the conquistadores.
In the post-classic period following the collapse the state of Chichén Itzá built an empire that briefly united much of the Maya region, and centers such as Mayapán and Uxmal flourished, as did the Highland states of the K'iche' and Kaqchikel Maya.
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj, a pre-Columbian state in the Guatemalan highlands