How did religion and ritual relate to the creation and maintenance of royal authority? What were the differences and/or similarities between the religious practice of Maya nobility and Maya commoners?

What role did religion and ritual play in Maya society?

For this essay, address the following question: what role did religion and ritual play in Maya society? Obviously, this is an enormously broad question, yet there are multiple aspects of Maya culture you may investigate to address it.

For example, how did religion and ritual relate to the creation and maintenance of royal authority? What were the differences and/or similarities between the religious practice of Maya nobility and Maya commoners? How did Maya conceptions of natural/artificial landscapes relate to cosmology and religious practice? Did religion play a role in Maya craft production or subsistence practices?