INCA SHRINES: Deities in stone and water

Petrocchi M.C. · Sacred Waters: A Cross-Cultural Compendium of Hallowed Springs and Holy Wells (2020)

Resumen

Inca shrines of the fifteenth- through early sixteenth-centuries were sites where sacred beings dwelled, who communicated with people through an extra-human language. This “tongue” could only be understood by the priests in charge of their cults. Stone and water, the inseparable and animistic duo patterning every sanctuary, almost invariably were the essential and tangible elements of these sacred entities generically known as huacas. Each huaca featured a rock, a boulder or a crag (often with characteristic carved geometric motifs) and was associated with a spring, a fountain, a waterfall or a watercourse, which often was part of a sophisticated hydraulic system. Running water and its sound, which was believed to be the huaca’s “voice,” was the perceived manifestation of stone’s vitality and its sacred nature. The Incas were true masters in crafting stonework and managing water, and they built oracular shrines that had similar characteristics in many places of the heartland of their empire; this essay focuses on the shrines at Chuquipalta and Chuspiyoq.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú