In this sense they were also called _chac_, the giants, as the rain senders.

They were also the gods of fertility and abundance, who watered the crops, and on whose favor depended the return of the harvests.

They presided over the streams and wells, and were the divinities whose might is manifested in the thunder and lightning, gods of the storms, as well as of the gentle showers.[2] The festival to these gods of the harvest was in the month _Mac_, which occurred in the early spring.

In this ceremony, Itzamna was also worshiped as the leader of the Bacabs, and an important rite called "the extinction of the fire" was performed.

"The object of these sacrifices and this festival," writes Bishop Landa, "was to secure an abundance of water for their crops."[3] [Footnote 1: The _Diccionario Maya del Convento de Motul_, MS., the only dictionary in which I find the exact word, translates _bacab_ by "representante, juglar, bufon." This is no doubt a late meaning taken from the scenic representations of the supposed doings of the gods in the ritual ceremonies.