Pirwa – Page 88 – Pirwa Hostels BLOG

Corpus Christi: Saints and Virgins on Parade

June 21, 2011 Pirwa

Of Mummies and Saints…

In the time of the Incan Empire, festivals were carried out in the presence of the richly attired and adorned mummies of all the supreme Incas and rulers of Tawantinsuyu, as well as other venerated ancestors. Now, when once Cusco celebrated the end of the agricultural year with feasting and the procession mummies, the city celebrates Corpus Christi with a procession of Saints and Virgins. For Cusco, Corpus Christi is the year´s most important (and lavish) religious festival.

On the day before the main event, this Wednesday, music coming from the Cathedral will call the saints. The patron saints from 15 parish districts arrive at the Main Square´s Cathedral dressed in this year´s best finery- new clothes, new jewelry and ornamentation- along with their own band and parishioners. The elaborately costumed saints and virgins make their way to the Cathedral to greet “Corpus Christi”- the body of Christ. In the early hours of the morning, with the streets already overflowing with the faithful and the curious you´ll see a strange sight- Saint Sebastian (5km from the Cathedral) and Saint Geronimo (10km from the Cathedral) racing to reach the Cathedral first. They´ll spend the night in the Cathedral. On Thursday the 23^rd it´s time for the main event as all the saints prepare to process together. Altars adorned with mirrors, banners, flowers, tree branches, religious images, etc, await them.

After the Archbishop´s Te-Deum on Thursday morning, the Golden Sun of Custody which holds the Host will begin its procession in a silver carriage. (The Golden Custody is an 18^th century 26.7kg/1.2m pure gold massif decorated with 331 pearls, 263 diamonds, 221 green emeralds, 89 amethysts, 62 rubies, 43 topazes, 17 diamonds, 5 sapphires and an agate.) After the Procession of the Holy Sacrament, the Saints and Virgins process together before entering the Cathedral where they´ll stay until the Octava a week later. Then they´ll process again while devotees dance the Mestiza Qoyacha and Capaq Qoya. You´ll see various costumed characters frolicking about as well: chauchos, qollas, pabluchas, and ukukus among them. Throughout the day you´ll also hear Peru´s largest church bell, the 16^th century María Angola. Finally, it´ll be time for the Saints and Virgins to return to their home parishes. Dancers and musicians will accompany the saints as they´ll process along the same streets where Incan mummies paraded in the time of the Inca Empire.

A Room With a View…

As luck would have it, Corpus Christi this year falls on the same day as the Serenade to Cusco and a day before the Incan Festival of the Sun, Inti Raymi. Between these and the city´s anniversary, and the upcoming centennial of Machu Picchu, the streets of Cusco have become a lively spectacle of costumes and dancers. It´s definitely the best time to visit Cusco. The downside, however, is that navigating through the city has become difficult due to the revelers. With thousands of people crowding the Main Square in the next several days, it´s a good idea to find a way to view the festivities without fighting for a spot. At Pirwa´s Posada del Corregidor B&B, you can sit in the restaurant´s balcony facing the Main Square and relax without missing the fun. You´ll also avoid the other main problem associated with the festivities: price hikes- as our policy is to keep prices the same all throughout the year, regardless of the season.

You have to try…

Wednesday night families serve 12 traditional dishes, but on the main event Thursday one dish is the star: Chiriuchu (Cold Chili Pepper). This traditional Corpus Christi meal is a cold dish of guinea pig, chicken, ch´arki, sausages, cheese, toasted corn kernels, tortillas, bread, etc. Merchants set up stands around the Main Square, knowing that as soon as the saints are safely tucked away it´s time for food and chicha (fermented corn drink) or beer.

+ Read more

Celebrating 100 Years of the Lost City

June 13, 2011 Pirwa

For the last year preparations have been underway for the 100^th Anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu. From July 3^rd to July 9^th both Cusco and Machu Picchu will come alive with fireworks, musical acts, dance competitions, parades, drinks, and more! To keep up with all the happenings we´re providing you with the official program for the Centennial Celebrations, below:

Centennial of Machu Picchu for the World: Official Program

Sunday, July 3^rd

10:00 Machu Picchu Centennial Parade through Cusco

Wednesday, July 6^th

09:00 Regional Government of Cusco awards the Inca Pachacutec Medal to chosen recipients at an official ceremony at Koricancha

12:00 The South American Camelids Festival begins at Sacsayhuaman

18:00 Welcome Cocktails at the Convent of Santo Domingo

Thursday, July 7^th

06:00 Twenty-one Gun Salute in Cusco

09:00 The Grand Cultural Art Festival opens for the day in the Main Square (Plaza de Armas) and the Plazas Espinar, San Francisco, San Blas, Santa Teresa, Los Pumas.

10:30 Welcome to Machu Picchu!
A t the Lost City of Machu Picchu, the traditional Tinkay ceremony begins, along with the Salute to the Four Corners of the empire. The Andean group Jaivas will perform “Heights of Machu Picchu”. Ends at 12:30.

18:00 Machu Picchu and Cusco Celebrations
As a tribute to the history and wonder of Macchu Picchu there´ll be a 2 hour sound and light show accompanied by Andean Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica del Cusco at Machu Picchu. At the same time in Cusco, for the next 6 hours there´ll be the concerts and shows at Machu Picchu will be broadcasting live in Cusco´s Main Square (the Plaza de Armas)

Friday, July 8^th

9:00 All-day Dance Competition in the Plaza de Armas between Cusco´s 13 provinces of Cusco

11:00 The Float Parade begins its route through Cusco´s main streets

19:00 After the Dance Competition in the Main Square (Plaza de Armas) finishes, the Andean Symphony Orchestra will perform along with Los Jaivas, followed by a fireworks display

Saturday, July 9^th

18:00 Renowned Peruvian and foreign artists will perform a Music Festival in the Beer Garden

Pirwa has four different hostels and bed & breakfasts locations in Cusco located in and just alongside the Main Square as well as San Blas, as well as a Hostel and B&B in Machu Picchu Pueblo (Aguas Calientes). There´s still availability during the festivities, so check our site if you´re looking for a room.

+ Read more

100 Years of Mystery: The Discovery of Machu Picchu

June 11, 2011 Pirwa

“Above all, there is the fascination of finding here and there under swaying vines… the rugged masonry of a bygone race; and of trying to understand the bewildering romance of the ancient builders who, ages ago, sought refuge in a region which appears to have been expressly designed by nature as a sanctuary for the oppressed, a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give expression to their passion for walls of enduring beauty.” -Hiram Bingham

During Hiram Bingham´s fateful 1911 trip to Peru in search of Vilcabamba, local farmer Melcho Arteaga told him about the ruins on “Old Mountain” while he and his party camped riverside at Mandor Pampa. Although bad weather made Arteaga reluctant to show Bingham the way, he was convinced by the offer of a 1-sol payment. Bingham, Arteaga, and his interpreter crossed a precarious bridge and intimidating 2000ft slope to arrive at a small hut where a group of campesinos told Bingham they´d been living there for years and farming on an extensive system of terraces they´d found. Bingham continued on with Pablito, an 11 year old boy who took him to the ruins.

What Bingham saw was more than a hundred ancient terraces fortified with fertile river valley soil carried up by the Incas, cleared of growth and in use. Passing the terraces and entering the subtropical forest they beheld white granite walls and ancient structures which, though partially hidden by earth and five centuries of growth, appeared to Bingham to be the finest masonry he had ever seen. The site had evaded the attention of the Spanish invaders probably because the long since deserted city had already been forgotten. Throughout the centuries of colonial rule it had lain relatively unmolested. Only those living nearest these ruins knew they were there. At the time, aside from base materials (terraces on which to grow crops, stones to use for construction), the ruins were not considered to be of much interest or value.

When Bingham arrived there were already a couple families living at the ruins. Treasure hunters searching the ruins for valuables had left their names and the date of their trip etched in rock a decade earlier. Both the treasure hunters and Bingham met Anacleto Alvarez, who lived there and grew his crops on the fertile soil that the Incas had brought up from the river valley to build the terraces. And yet, while Hiram Bingham may not have discovered Machu Picchu, his academic interest and efforts to bring it to the attention of the world may well have saved it. Over the next several years the historian conducted the first archaeological excavations and documented and mapped the site. In 1913 National Geographic devoted an entire issue to Machu Picchu, and over the following decade Bingham wrote popular books dedicated to the site.

What became known as the Lost City of the Incas has inspired worldwide interest ever since it was brought to international attention. The roughly 5,000 artifacts found there were transferred for study and have provided priceless information about the Incan Empire. Also, it is in Machu Picchu that one can observe the only intact Intihuatana stone ever found, although in the time of the empire this was the main sacred object in all major cities. Machu Picchu is unquestionably the greatest Inca site in the Americas to have escaped the colonial period unscathed. A large part of its fame, however, is that it remains an enigma; scholars could not and cannot agree as to the purpose it served and why it was abandoned even before the Conquest. Some believe it to have been a ceremonial center, royal resort, military citadel, or even the very birthplace of the empire.

+ Read more

The Inti Raymi and Cusco Aniversary Celebrations

June 11, 2011 Pirwa

For the last year Cusco has been anxiously preparing for the festivals of this June and July. As the faithful are setting off on the Qoyllur Rit´i pilgrimage and beautification projects are underway in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the streets of the Imperial City are already starting to fill with costumed dancers and musicians for Intí Raymi, the Festival of the Sun. (We wrote about the celebration in an earlier post.) The Festival´s central day, the 24^th of June, falls on the Day of the Peasant (formerly celebrated as Day of the Indian) as well as Cusco´s Anniversary. The celebrations won´t end until they reach their climax on July 7^th when Peru celebrates the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu.

Official Program: Friday, 24^th of June 2011

This day not only kicks of Intí Raymi, which we wrote about in an earlier post, but is also the day Cusco celebrates its anniversary. No expense has been spared, so be sure to make it to the Imperial City in time!

08:15 The 5^th Mountain Brigade hoists the rainbow flag of Tahuantinsuyo

08:30 Cusco´s Archbishop heads Mass and the Te Deum at the Basilica Cathedral

09:00 Act I of Intí Raymi

It all begins with the Sun Greeting at Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, as various characters of importance in the time of the Inca empire gather for the Incan Emperor´s Salute to the Sun. Expect the air to fill with the noise of traditional Andean Instruments and conch shells as the streets are covered with flowers for the procession to the Main Square

10:30 Meeting of the Times at the Main Square

From his huaca, Incan altar, the Inca formally addresses the Mayor of Cusco

13:30 Central Ceremony at the Fortress of Sacsayhuamán

The main part of the celebration includes the Chicha de Jora rite, a (realistically faked) black llama sacrifice, and the fire rite. There will be dancing, jubilation, divining from llama blood and viscera, and sacred bonfires.

The dancing, music, and overall celebrating won´t stop at Sacsayhuamán, fairs and concerts will continue throughout the day in the main streets of Cusco.

It´s a lot to get to in one post, so check out our earlier posts on Qoyllur Rit’i and Intí Raymi for some fascinating information about some of the celebrations, and check back here soon to learn where to go and what to do for the big Machu Picchu Centennial.

+ Read more

Qoyllur Rit’i- Lord of the Snow Shine

June 9, 2011 Pirwa

A History Full of Legend…

Every year in Cusco´s Sinakara Valley there is an event like no other- Qoyllur Rit’i, the greatest indigenous pilgrimage in this hemisphere. More than 10,000 pilgrims hike the icy Ausangate, an ancient site of pilgrimage since pre-Columbian times and sacred site linked with the fertility of the land. The snowy Apu (Andean mountain deity), was thought to appear to peasants as a boy with white skin. The pilgrimage always happens around the time of the solstice, probably due to the pan-Andean fascination with the Pleiades constellation.

Christianity arrived to the sacred rock in the 1780s, when religious authorities ordered the painting of an image of a crucified Christ on the rock to give the site a Christian veil. This image became known as Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i (Lord of the Snow Shine). Legend now says that in 1780 a strange mestizo boy befriended an Indian boy on the Ausangate snow fields. The boy appeared emanating an intense white light. When Church officials tried to apprehend him, the boy transformed into a bush with the body of an agonizing Christ hanging from it. His Indian friend fell dead from grief and was buried under the stone where Christ had last appeared.

The Festival

This year´s pilgrimage begins on June 12th with a hike to the Sanctuary Shrine, passing 14 crosses over sheets of snow. Delegatio ns from Quechua and Aymara communities arrive carrying religious images to the Sanct uary. Individual pilgrims participate as well as large troupes of dancers and musicians. Pilgr ims pass the night inside the temple, warming themselves in the heat from thousands of candles offered by the devout in order to offset the glacial cold outside. Locals believe that those who attempt the Qoyllur Rit’i pilgrimage without faith will meet their deaths.

The numerous dance performances, processions, and Catholic masses are punctuated by some unique activities:

There´s the Alabacitas market, where miniature goods are bought and sold with Qoyllur Rit´i currency according to real-life wishes.
In the Burning of the Castles wooden constructions built with fireworks are set alight.
In the “Game of Little Houses”, pilgrims construct miniature building a few inches in height in order to ask the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i for real-life property. Some merely draw their wishes: a home, a child.
You´ll see lots of costumed characters from Quechua mythology throughout the event. One of these, the ukukus, have the task of retrieving crosses and block of glacial ice for use as for use as holy water in the year to come and for symbolic irrigation of their land.

After the Blessing Mass there´s a “24-hour” procession passing Calvario Machacruz, the Kumukasa lagoons and Alqamarina sectors en route to Yanacocha (approx. a 6 hour hike). After a 3-4 hour nap the Night Hike to Tayancani begins, with the Sun Greeting Ceremony en route. At Tayancani there will be a blessing to the Sanctuary and village.

Tips for Travelers

Soroche (Altitude Sickness) can cause fainting- if you´re concerned about the altitude buy one of the mini-oxygen tanks available in Cusco´s pharmacies. (Don´t worry, they´re bottle-sized.)
Surusppi, irritation of the eyes by the reflection of the sun on the snow, is also a problem. Bring some good sunglasses to be on the safe side.
Prepare for COLD- good jackets, thermal underwear, and a below-20 sleeping bag
The main ceremony is held at the foot of Mount Ausangate, at 4,700m, where temperatures often plunge below freezing.

+ Read more