Every year, tens of thousands of people, mainly from the indigenous communities in the Cuzco region of Peru and their neighboring countries, flock to the Sinakara Valley to take part in a 3-day festival that has been held annually since 1780: the Qoyllur Rit’i. Inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011, the Qoyllur Rit’i, which translates to “shining snow” or “star of the snow,” may be considered as a celebration of a multitude of things: New Year, a rite of passage to manhood, health, or prayers for an abundant harvest.
A large crowd of believers and devout followers of this saint unite for the pilgrimage. This great crowd is called "naciones" or "nations" because it is made up of people from different parts of the country with different social statuses and economies.
Preceding the event is a year of preparation — securing food for the pilgrims and performers through sponsors or volunteers, designing the costumes to be worn by the performers, and other logistical matters. During the festival itself, pilgrims are represented by delegations composed of dancers and musicians, divided into eight tribes or naciones that correspond to their villages of origin: Paucartambo, Quispicanchi, Canchis, Acomayo, Paruro, Tawantinsuyo, Anta, and Urubamba. These groups are the life of the Qoyllur Rit’i — not only creating a high-spirited atmosphere but fostering a sense of community through their ceaseless dancing and singing.
The festival reaches its climax on the third day when the ukukus return to their respective delegations with blocks of ice from the glacier that is believed to possess healing properties. Ukukus refer to the heroic man-bear in Andean mythology and are represented by young boys who ascend the valley’s glacier during the Qoyllur Rit’i festival as a rite of passage to manhood. Qoyllur Rit’i continues to be practiced today, but climate change has led to the formal banning of one of the festival’s main traditions: the extraction of ice from the glacier, whose water is blessed and then brought to the participant villages to be used for curing susto or fear, warding off hail storms and lightning, and calming the drunk, insane, and evil. This is compounded by the increase in disruptive tourists every year and COVID-19 restrictions that have postponed and may continue to delay the celebration of the annual festival.
Essentially, the main purpose of Qoyllur Rit’i is to pray and give thanks to the Apus or mountains — especially Apu Ausangate — which ancient Andeans believed to be inhabited by gods who watch over the weather and the well-being of the people. According to Robert Randall—the author of several works documenting his experiences of the Qoyllur Rit’i pilgrimage—it is also a celebration of transitions practiced by the indigenous people of the Andes; a shift from sickness to health, dark to light, and chaos to order that is symbolized by the return of the Pleiades star cluster in June. The significance of the Pleiades is widely discussed in early Spanish chronicles, which claim that the star was used for various purposes such as measuring yearly cycles and marking the seasons, predicting weather patterns, and determining crop quality. Randall adds that the Pleiades’ disappearance around Holy Week in April is believed to inflict sickness or oncoymita, associated with the 450 years of the Spanish colonization of indigenous Peru which saw an onslaught of widespread epidemics.
On the other hand, its return on Easter Sunday is believed to be accompanied by alleviation from sickness, fertility, and rebirth. As Randall argues, one demonstration of this transition from chaos to order can be witnessed in the structure of the dances performed in the Qoyllur Rit’i. Formality and order are mostly absent throughout the festival, with groups dancing and playing music whenever they wish to do so. On the final sunrise, however,all groups synchronously dance to the same music played by their musicians, signaling a collective transition to order and a new beginning.
One remarkable feature of the Qoyllur Rit’i pilgrimage is the evident combination of local Andean and Incan beliefs with Catholic ideas in its origins and present form/arrangement. The legend that birthed the festival, as well as its indigenous versions, involves a local shepherd boy's encounter with the child Christ and the Cross. The Church where the glacier ice is blessed and the two primary elements of worship in the festival, the Virgin of Fátima and Señor de Qoyllur Rit'i, are Catholic, leading some to argue that the Qoyllur Rit'i is a successful attempt by the Spanish conquerors to Christianize indigenous religion.
Traditions are expressions of identity and to practice them is to preserve that identity. Like all other long-standing traditions, however, the Qoyllur Rit'i pilgrimage has been largely affected by societal changes. Events and phenomena such as the Spanish Conquest, climate change, tourism, and the COVID-19 pandemic have altered and will continue to alter the manner in which the annual event is celebrated both in positive and negative ways. Countering changes like these is extremely challenging because they often arrive unexpectedly and simultaneously and are mostly inevitable. Because of this, it can be said that the preservation of traditions like Qoyllur Rit’i requires not only its continuous practice but also an adaptive response to the forces that threaten it.
About the author
Danica Quijano is a sophomore majoring in AB Diplomacy and International Relations with specialization in East and Southeast Asian Studies. She was born, raised, and still resides in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone with her family of 5 humans and more than a dozen dogs. She is primarily interested in global affairs, foreign cultures, the arts, and learning about nature. Her hobbies include reading, studying languages, watching documentaries, meditation, learning practical life skills such as investing, and recently, daydreaming about the outdoors. She hopes to be able to set foot abroad soon.
Sources
Kania, M. (2019). The Qoyllurit’i Pilgrimage: Religious Heritage versus Socio-Environmental Problems. Studia Religiologica, 52, 205-220. https://doi.org/10.4467/20844077SR.19.015.11374.
Randall, R. (1982). Qoyllur Rit'i, An Inca Fiesta of the Pleiades: Reflections on Time & Space in the Andean world. Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Etudes Andines, 9 (1–2), 37–81. http://www.ifea.org.pe/libreria/bulletin/1982/pdf/37.pdf
Villasana, D. (2020, October 26). Witnessing Peru’s Enduring, if Altered, Snow Festival. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/travel/qoyllur-riti-snow-star-festival-peru.html
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