Cuzco, Peru

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Cuzco, Peru

For those who are interested in Cuzco’s history, geography, landscape, architecture, culture, handicrafts, folklore etc. I would rather refer to more authentic sources like the link below:

http://www.cusco-peru.org/

For others, I am giving my own impressions for what it is worth. (Worth maybe about 50 clicks on the blog.)

Cuzco, variously spelled as Qusqu, Qosqo, Cusco etc. means ‘The Navel’ or The Center’. This is a sort of euphemism, because Spaniards literally translated its original name Akamama as ‘Chicha’s Mother’. However, if we consider Qusqu as a corrupt form of ‘Kukshu’ in Sanskrit or ‘Kokh’ in Hindi, it still means ‘Womb’ or ‘Uterus’. What the originators of the name had in mind was probably “Mother of Civilization”, not the physical part that denotes a mother. In Spanish language dictionaries, Cuzco is a rather derogatory term.

I personally associate Cuzco with breathlessness. Not only Cuzco, but the whole altiplano (lovely word! Isn’t it?) of the Andes has rarified atmosphere leading to breathlessness.

Cuzco is situated at a height of 11,600 feet and the air is quite rarified with the result that walking itself is an effort. Add to it the fact that it is an ‘up-down’ city. Not a single road is on a level surface. So, perpetual tiredness is the order of the day. (And night also)

We were prepared for very cold climate because we thought that it will be similar to our experience in Himachal Pradesh at 12,000 feet. Surprisingly, it was not very cold but somehow, altitude sickness among tourists is more common here compared to Himalayan region. (Or, maybe we were younger in those days and so did not suffer altitude sickness.)

The key to prevent altitude sickness is to eat very light meals. The body has a tendency to throw out the heavy contents inside the alimentary canal because of the decreased pressure outside. Basic laws of Physics act on the human body too. (I mean the high school Physics. Remember about volume, temperature and pressure?)

Here we were panting for breath just walking, and wondering whether the Incas of the past were a race of giants or aliens, because the stone walls that they have built do not look like the works of Man.

You will find a lot of photos of the Inca walls in this blog. How they cut, polished, shaped, transported and fitted together those huge stone blocks (without any binding material like mortar) is anybody’s guess because nowadays, no one knows with any certainty how they did it. Like Egyptian mummification methods, the Incan stone working methods are also lost to mankind. The unique feature of those massive stone walls is that despite being in earthquake-prone region, they have withstood the tremors because the Incas applied unique architectural principles in their construction.

Cuzco is a quaint city. The roads and the lower parts of the walls of houses are clearly Incan. The upper parts of the walls are clearly more recent and lack the finesse of the Incan walls, though the charming wooden, carved balconies that they support, makes you wish that you were a Juliet. There are hardly any new buildings, but every road has three or four Internet cafes. When you see cars running on those cobbled Incan roads, you are bemused.
The red tiled roofs of the houses still retain their vibrant colors despite rains.

In the city center, there used to be an Incan Palace and an Incan temple. Cuzco was a ‘Royal’ city. Commoners were not allowed to live in the city. The Incan Palace is now replaced by the Governor’s Residence and The Incan Temple, by a catholic church. This is the scenario in every city of Peru that we visited - Lima, Cuzco, Puno and Arequipa.

The conquistador Francisco Pizarro conquered Cuzco and Incas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Pizarro#Conquest_of_Peru_.281532.29

Follow the link above to read about Pizarro.

People have often asked the question “How the mighty Incan Empire was conquered by Francisco Pizarro with less than 200 men?” Our guide told us that the mighty Incan Empire had become decadent when Pizarro landed there. When we asked the guide why it became decadent, he advanced a theory that because the Incas sacrificed their best warriors and best maidens to their Gods, leaving only mediocrity behind.

Suddenly, I could see the Incan sacrifice in my mind’s eye - the warrior or the maiden reverently lowering their head on the altar before the God and the High Priest raising his hand to plunge the ceremonial dagger in the victim’s breast, while the Divine women chanted.

My mind is a crazy imp. It now changed the slide.

It is late 18th Century in Paris and a sacrifice has been arranged for Goddess Democracy. The best people in France, the Royals and the Aristocrats are being sacrificed. The High Priest lowers a lever and down comes the blade of the Guillotine on the neck of the victim while the Democratic Women knitted socks/scarves and counted the stitches or heads.

The crazy imp now changed one more slide. The scene shifted to Russia. The Tsar was being sacrificed to the God Communism. Pitchfork and Bayonet are the sacred weapons used by the High Peasant while the Farmer women sang The Tsar’s swansong from Swan Lake.

Before my mind could change slide again, I just shooed it away and concentrated on the colorful costumes of the Mestizo.

The Mestizo is a flamboyant creature. The embroidery and colors of their dresses would put our Rajasthani costumes to shame.

Cuzco nestles in a bowl. The hills surrounding it are covered with tall evergreen trees. The sacred temples of Incas like Qenqo or Sacsay Huaman (Routinely called ‘Sexy Woman’ by tourists, while I call it ‘Sakshi Waman’. I may be wrong.) adorn those hills, though the ‘Holy of the Holies’ temple of Qoricancha was within the city.

You will find interesting info. about Qoricancha here :

http://www.cusco.net/articulos/qoricancha.htm

About the tourist destinations of Sacsaywaman, Kenko, Pukapukara and Tambomachay you will find more info here:

http://www.cusco.net/articulos/alrededores.htm

Sacsaywaman is huge and very impressive even as a ruin. However, my own favorite is the mysterious Kenko, though small. It is basically a cave with an altar within, meant for sacrifices - whether animal or human is a moot point. On the outside is a large, curious stone carving, defaced by the Spaniards. It is at present impossible to say what the statue represented, but somehow, I think that it represented a mythical composite creature made of snake, puma and condor. In Incan mythology, snake represented the Netherworld, Puma the physical world and Condor the Heavens. The site and sight of Kenko is evocative of religious frenzy of rituals, sacrifices, conspiracies. (Perhaps orgies, though I won’t bet upon it.)

The huge statue of Jesus Christ standing on the opposite hill and the myriad electric lights of Cuzco below in the valley add a note of incongruity to it.

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Photos

View of Cuzco
View of Cuzco from our hotel

Cuzco Cathedral
Cuzco Cathedral

Qoricancha
Qoricancha, the Holy of the Holies

The Inca wall
The smooth, granite Inca wall

Saksaywaman
The ruins of Saksaywaman that I call 'Sakshi Waman'

Many-sided stone
The many-sided stone in an Inca wall

Defaced Kenko statue
The defaced Kenko statue

Kenko sacrificial altar
The altar where llamas were sacrificed

Pukapukara
The Pukapukara ruins

Tambomachay
The Tambomachay

Comments

[anonymous]

Sakshi-Waman may also be derived from Pakshi-Waman. Pakshi for bird in Sanskrit
Viracocha also has a Trident by that name in Peru. The Trident may as well be the same that is described in the Ramayana. When the vanar sena goes all over the world looking for Sita, they are directed to look for the shining trident of Indra.

[charuavi]

The 'Trident' or 'Trishul' strengthens the Indian-origin theory. Charuavi