Hola!! Bonjour!! Dag!! Hallo!!
We want to send
you a special "Hello", a warm greeting in the native languages of
those who have visited this site, to let you all know that we are happy to be
able to tell you about the precious site of Matucana, Peru!!
Below we've
written an interesting legend from the area of Matucana for you to enjoy!!
Thank you!!
Peruvian Myth
The Origin of the
God Pariacaca
This is a pre-Hispanic myth which tells the origin of Pariacaca, the
principal god in the province of Huarochiri (department of Lima, Peru) before
the Spanish arrived.
Men who lived in those times only
warred and fought amongst themselves, and their leaders (“Curacas”) were the bravest and richest. Today Peruvians refer to
them as purum runa.
It is said in that era Pariacaca
was born from five eggs in the mountain Condorcoto, which is located between
the towns of Huarochiri and San Jose de Los Chorrillos, in the province of
Huarochiri.
A poor man named Huatiacuri, who
according to legend was also Pariacaca’s son, was the first to see and know
about this birth. Also according to the legend, the
people of that era called him Huatiacuri because he was so poor he only had one
thing to eat, huatiadas.
Another man named Tamtañamca
was powerful and considered a great man. His house was covered with bird
feathers, colors of red and yellow. He possessed feathers and fur from every
species of animal imaginable; even colors of red, yellow, and blue. When people
found out about his power and virtue, they came from all over to honor and
venerate him. Pretending to be a great wise man (despite his limited
knowledge), he lived by cheating many of those people.
Tamtañamca, still pretending to be divine
and a god, contracted a very serious disease. As time passed people began to
wonder how one so wise and powerful could become so sick.
As all Huirocochas run to the divine or to doctors, Tamtañamca
called on all of the wise men of the area to cure him. However none of them knew
how to treat the disease he had. At this time Huatiacuri came from the sea and
stayed to fall asleep next to a mountain named Latausaco.
Meanwhile a fox that also was
going up the mountain met up with another who was going down and asked how
everything was up ahead. The other fox said, “Everything that is ok, is ok, but
a man, a Huillca from Anchicocha, who pretends to be a god and
great wise man, is sick, and all of the divine are trying to find the origin of
his being sick.”
The fox who was heading up then
asked, “and how did this man get so sick?”, and the other fox responded, “while
his wife was toasting corn, a multicolored grain jumped out, but before
touching the floor it touched all of her shame. Yet she picked up the grain and
gave it for another man to eat. This is why she is now considered an adulteress.
Because of her fault there is a snake that lives in the house and is eating the
man. Also a two headed frog lives under the house, and nobody suspects that it
is them that are making Tamtañamca sick.”
This man who was sick for having
pretended to be a god had two daughters. The oldest had married a rich man from
her Ayllu.
Therefore Huatiacuri went to
where the sick man was. As he approached he asked everyone if there was someone
in the community who was sick. The younger daughter of Tamtañamca
told him that her dad was.
Huatiacuri told her, “Marry me
and I will heal your father.” But she didn’t answer, left him, and told her
father all that Huatiacuri had claimed.
The wise men that were present
started to laugh and said, “Would we be here, curing him, if a poor man was
capable of doing it?”
But Tamtañamca wished to cure himself
more than anything, and called on Huatiacuri. Huatiacuri entered and told Tamtañamca,
“If you wish, I will heal you, but you have to give me your daughter.” Content
with the answer, Tamtañamca accepted. However his daughter became furious, saying
“How can the sister in law of a powerful man be subjugated to marrying such a
poor man?”
Huatiacuri began his work without
paying attention to this. He told Tamtañamca, “Sir, your wife is unfaithful,
and this has made you sick. On the roof of your house there are two snakes that
are eating you, and also a two headed frog. We have to kill them in order to
cure you. On the theme of you, you are no authentic god, because if you were
you would not have gotten sick this way.”
Upon hearing this, Tamtañamca
became startled, and his wife furious, exclaiming, “This miserable man insulted
me for no reason, I’m not an adulterer!” But truly wishing to cure himself, the
sick man told Huatiacuri to do what was necessary. Therefore they found and
killed the two snakes, proving to Tamtañamca that Huatiacuri was telling the
truth, and he told his wife to admit to her fault. Later they found the two
headed frog, who escaped by flying towards the riverside of Anchiococha. It is
still believed to be there, hiding in a spring, and when men pass through the
area some disappear while others turn crazy.
After all of that, Huatiacuri had
completed his labor, and the sick man was cured. Later on the day indicated,
Huatiacuri traveled to Condorcoto, and there was Pariacaca in the form of five
eggs. Then the wind blew for the first time, as in ancient times the wind had
never done this. On that same day, Tamtañamca, now healthy, handed over his
daughter per the agreement, and Huatiacuri and his new wife started on a
journey. As they were walking near the mountain Condorcoto, they sinned. As
this was happening Tamtañamca’s younger daughter challenged Huatiacuri to a series
of tests to try to shower him in shame. The challenge was this: “You are going
to compete in different tests, to know how a miserable man like you could dare
marry a woman who is the sister in law of such a powerful man.”
Huatiacuri accepted the
challenge, and went to tell his father Pariacaca (who was still unborn and in
the form of five eggs) everything that had happened. “Very well,” said
Pariacaca, “whatever she tells you, come here and tell me it, and I will advise
you.”
Such was the first test: The rich
powerful man challenged Huatiacuri in his drinking and dancing endurance. And
of course Huatiacuri’s father advised him, “Walk to the other mountain, and
transform yourself into a huanaco. Then lay down, pretending to be dead. Very
soon tomorrow a fox and his wife will go to see you, and she will carry you
chicha in a jar and he will carry you a drum and flute. When they find you,
believing you are dead, they will eat you. But before they do that, turn
yourself again into a man and yell with all your strength and they will startle
so much that they’ll leave forgetting their things. With their belongings you
will find the strength for the competition.
Huatiacuri did everything his father told him to. The competition started with
the rich man dancing first. About a dozen women danced with him. When it was
Huatiacuri’s turn, he only entered with his wife. They played the drum that
belonged to the fox. Just as they started to play, the earth began to shake,
and Huatiacuri won. Afterwards it was time to drink. Huatacuri and his wife sat
down in the seats of honor, and all the men present surrounded them, serving
them chicha, one after the other and barely giving them enough time to breathe.
When it was Huatiacuri’s turn to serve, he brought out the jar which he took
from the fox. Upon seeing the jar, everyone started to laugh and mock, saying
the jar was too small to serve so many people. But he served every one of them,
and they soon fell down unconscious.
Having being defeated in this test, the next day the powerful man challenged
Huatiacuri again. This time the challenge consisted of dressing in the finest
clothes. Again, Huatiacuri consulted his father. Pariacaca gave him a suit of
snow, and this is how Huatiacuri defeated his rival and left everyone shocked. Defeated
again, this time the powerful man challenged Huatiacuri in who could attract
the most and best feathers. Huatiacuri thought of attracting them with other
feathers. Using his father’s advice, he went very early to a spring and brought
a red feather. When he started to dance with the red feather, a rainbow
appeared in the sky, and that is the origin of the rainbow.
Next the powerful rich man wanted
to compete in constructing a large house. Huatiacuri collected only enough for
the base and spent the rest of the day walking with his woman. But, during the
night, all of the birds and snakes in the world went and constructed the house.
The next morning the house was complete, and the rich powerful man was shocked.
He challenged Huatiacuri to a new competition: this time in constructing the
roof. All of the huanacos and vicuñas brought hay for the rich man’s
roof. Huatiacuri hired a bobcat, which scared all of the huanacos and vicuñas
away. So Huatiacuri won again.
Following the advice of his
father, Huatiacuri told the rich man, “I have accepted all of your challenges
and have defeated you in all of them, so now it’s your turn to accept a
challenge which I propose to you.” The rich man accepted. “Now,” said
Huatiacuri, “we’re going to dance dressed in a blue tunic and a huara made of white cotton.” The rich
man started to dance, as he was used to doing. Meanwhile, Huaticuri came in
running and screaming. The rich man turned into a deer and left running. His
wife ran behind him. Huatiacuri followed them and caught up with the woman on
the way to Anchicocha. He nailed her head to the ground and she turned into a
rock. The rich man, having turned into a deer, run up the mountain and
disappeared. Since that moment man has hunted deer for its meat.
Only after this, Pariacaca and
his siblings broke from the five eggs, and converted into five falcons. Upon
touching ground they took the form of men and started to walk. When they found
out how the people of the time behaved and how Tamtañamca was adored after
pretending to be a god, they became very angry. They turned into rain, making
all of the houses and llamas slip into the sea, and nobody survived.
After inflicting his punishment,
Pariacaca went up the mountain which today has his name.
