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Major festivities during Winter
Inti
Raymi : the Resurrection of the Sun
Held during the winter solstice, the Inti Raymi or Fiesta
del Sol (Sun Celebration) was the most important festivity
of the ancient Peru. If there is an event you can't
miss during your visit to Peru, this for sure is it.
Spectacular and millenary, the celebration of the God
Sun -the highest god of the Incas-, aimed at stopping
it from further moving away from the Earth, but also
for sunlight to keep supporting life in the planet.
During
the Inca Empire, the festival was attended by the main
Cusco authorities and the highest representatives from
the four nations of the Tahuantinsuyo (the Inca land).
All attendants were impeccably dressed, the military
carrying their finest weapons. Soon after the Spanish
had conquered the empire, the Catholic Church forbid
what they considered a pagan-ritual. And it was not
until the XX century that the festivity was recovered
by a group of artists and intellectuals from Cusco.
They started to represent it as a play, which evolved
year after year thanks to continuous historical research.
Nowadays
the ritual is very similar to the original. It takes
place in the esplanade of Sacsayhuaman, and is recited
in Quechua with an almost simultaneous Spanish translation.
The extensive research has also allowed a faithful recreation
of the original clothing and accessories (though obviously
gold isn't used anymore). The rehearsals for the event
take up to several weeks. The Inti Raymi is organized
by Emufec, the municipality company responsible for
the traditional Cusco festivities.
The
celebration takes place at the end of June. The procession
departs at 9am from Koricancha (Plazoleta Santo Domingo)
and arrives the Sacsayhuaman fortress at around noon.
Tickets for an outstanding viewpoint range from $50
to $70 and are available at the EMUFEC offices (Calle
Santa Catalina Ancha 333, Phone 084-244504, www.emufec.gob.pe).
Many locals, though, watch the celebration from the
hills that surround the esplanade.
Virgen del Carmen
The Virgen del Carmen festivity
-known locally as Mamacha Carmen- is a perfect example
of the syncretism between Spanish Catholicism and Inca
culture. Thousands of devotees celebrate all day and
night long in many towns in the Cusco department, though
the most well-know festivity takes place in Paucartambo,
a 4-hour ride from Cusco.
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Traditional
masks in Paucartambo
(Photo Mylene D Auriol/PromPerú)
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Mamacha Carmen,
patron saint of the mestizos, is accompanied through
the procession by dance companies in richly decorated
costumes. There are musicians playing Andean instruments
and a choir that sings in Quechua. On the central day,
June 16th, the Virgin is carried through town for her
to bless the attendants and scare away demons. After
a simulated battle against, the parade heads towards
the cemetery to render homage to the dead.
Though the main
day is the 16th, you could reach Paucartambo a couple
of days earlier to see the preparations. It's a good
idea to book an accommodation in advance. If you go,
don't miss in the spectacular sunrise from Tres Cruces
viewpoint (make sure to wear warm clothes because it
gets pretty cold up there).
Haywariquy
The Haywariquy or Offering Ceremony takes place in the
Korikancha esplanade on the eve of July 28th. Celebrated
every year by the Incas, the ceremony's aim was to honour
Pachamama (Mother Earth, in Quechua) with the offering
of various goods, as well as to invoke better times
for the empire. The current representation is an amazing
nocturnal show featuring ritual dances, music, artificial
fires and luminous effects.
Fiestas Patrias (Peru's Independence Day)
The declaration of independence by José de San
Martín (July 28th, 1821) is commemorated with
Criollo and folkloric music shows in public squares
and parks. A religious ceremony, the Te Deum, is celebrated
in Lima's Cathedral on the 29th, as well as a military
parade. Lima and other coastal cities feature cockfighting
and bullfighting events.
Yawar Fiesta
In the Ccollurqui county, province of Cotabambas, Department
of Apurímac, Independence day is celebrated with
an ancient ritual called Yawar Fiesta, or Blood Celebration
(Yawar means blood in Quechua).
This highly symbolic
and brutal show has as main protagonists a bull and
a condor, the former portraying the Spanish aspects
of Peru, the latter, the Andean ones. A live condor
is captured and driven to the village, where various
ceremonies will be held in it's honour. After getting
the bird drunk -usually with wine-, its feet are tied
to the bulls back, and both animals left to fight in
the ring. While the condor tries to liberate its feet
using its massive beak, the bull lurches desperately
and furiously around the bullring.
Traditionally,
the struggle ends with an exhausted bull bathed in blood.
The following day the condor is liberated.
Santa Rosa de Lima -Patron Saint of the Americas
and the Philippines
Saint Rose of Lima was the name given to a seventeenth-century
inhabitant of Lima. Isabel Flores de Oliva felt a great
religious vocation and dedicated herself to being a
laywoman, without belonging to any religious order in
particular. She was to spend her life caring for the
sick and her penitence undertaken to resist sin, as
well as her good nature earned her fame even while she
was alive.
Veneration of her figure spread not only in Peru but
also to the Philippines. Her shrine, located in downtown
Lima, is constantly visited by pilgrims in search of
a miracle, especially those seeking to cure an illness.
On August 30, pilgrims often cast letters detailing
their needs into the wishing well where Saint Rose dropped
the key from her cilice. Others visit the hermitage
that the saint herself built. Saint Rose is the patron
saint of Peru. Although her festival is celebrated across
the country, it has a special Quechua emphasis in the
town of Santa Rosa de Quives, in the highlands of the
department of Lima (taken from
Festivities, Music, and Folk Art in Perú
by PromPerú).
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