Qoyllur Rit'i

The Lord of the Star Snow

Quyllurit’i means “bright white snow” in Quechua. The festival is held every year in the Sinakara valley, in the southern highlands of the Cusco region. For the Catholic Church it honours the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i, an image of Christ. For many Andean people it is also a celebration of the stars — above all the return of the Pleiades, called Qullqa, “the storehouse”, which vanish from the sky in April and reappear in June, and which have long been linked to the coming harvest.

The Church’s account dates from the late eighteenth century. A young herder, Mariano Mayta, befriended a boy named Manuel on the mountain. When the bishop’s envoys came to find Manuel, he turned into a tayanka bush with the crucified Christ hanging from it, and Mariano fell dead on the spot. He was buried under a rock, which became a place of pilgrimage, and an image of Christ was painted on the stone.

Nations, dances and the sunrise

According to UNESCO, around ninety thousand people travel to the sanctuary. They are organised into eight “nations” named after their home areas: Paucartambo, Quispicanchi, Canchis, Acomayo, Paruro, Tawantinsuyo, Anta and Urubamba. A hundred different dances are performed. Processions carry crosses up and down the snow-capped mountain. In a twenty-four-hour procession, the Paucartambo and Quispicanchi nations carry images of the Lord of Tayancani and the Grieving Virgin to the village of Tayancani to greet the first rays of the sun.

Some participants have special roles. The ukukus once climbed the glaciers and brought back crosses and blocks of ice, which were believed to heal; as the glacier has melted, the ice is no longer carried down. The pablitos or pabluchas, in alpaca garments and woven animal masks, keep order, while a council of pilgrim nations and the brotherhood of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i direct the pilgrimage and supply food.