What if I tell you a little bit more about this place. . .
I’d like to start by telling you the meaning of the word. Chataquilla means Moon Mountain in Quechua. Chata=mountain and Quilla=moon.
Now that you know a little more about this word, let’s go and discover its history in more detail.
The Chapel in Chataquilla is open only two or three times a year in September and August to celebrate the Virgin of Guadeloupe. In this chapel, offerings of coca leaves, drinks and flowers are made.
Candles may also be placed there for those who believe in the Virgin. Several types of candles are placed there. The whites represent peace and tranquility, the reds represent love and the yellows represent money. We give the coca leaves with both hands to show duality. Everything works in pairs like man and woman or moon and sun.
Fetuses of lamas and human fetuses may be given as an offering to ask for greater success in one’s life or greater financial success.
For the Macha culture, it is still different, during the Tinku de Macha, the annual ritual in Potosi on May 3, blood is used as an offering. The warriors of Qaraqara were well known and feared for their warfare practices, and when an important person came to the kingdom, a demonstration of warfare techniques was organized. Then the demonstration of these techniques became a religious ceremony, the purpose of which was to offer the blood of men to the Pachamama, so that the harvest would be good. The winning community dominated the area for a whole year.
The Andean plateau is arid and water is scarce, and communities struggled to gain access to the river to maximize their harvests and obtain water. The community that won the battle in the Tinku ritual had access to the river for a whole year.
The natives believed, and some still believe, that if there are no casualties during the battles Pachamama will not be fed enough and as a result the harvests will be bad. Today Battles still exist, but no one is allowed to die. The battles have turned into tourist-favored combat rituals.
Kommentarer