Stock Photography Fine Art photo prints at Traveller Dreams - Inca Mountain Gods Peru Picture library

Inca Trail Index

The Mountain Gods

Three snow-covered mountains dominate the views in Cusco area. The highest mountain of the area is the Ausangate. 250 km east the Salcantay that with a height of 6.271 m, is the second highest mountain in the region. Veronica, first seen along the Inca trail, with jagged peaks reaching 5,750 m and, beyond Machu Picchu, Pumasillo (6,075 m) (the puma's claw) the highest peak in a series of mountains forming what is called the Sacsarayoc or Pumasillo range.
The people living in the Andes still adore the highest summits as gods, called Apus. Manifesting themselves as condors every Apu has a certain character and speciality. No one dares to live around this mountain. Locals say that the souls of bad people fly around her summit looking for rest. They can be seen as shadows passing above the snow line. They say that if a person dies by accident, it is the work of a bad spirit.
For the Quechua, mountain gods govern the wild plants and animals, crops and herds, waters, and people in the surrounding region still invoke them in rituals addressing their pleas for good weather and abundant crops and flocks, while individuals look to them for good health and increased prosperity.
Salcantay is considered to be the brother of Ausangate, and the two are thought to be the fathers of all the other mountains. Salcantay is viewed as male, and Veronica is its consort. Veronica, more properly known as Huaca Huillca (the meaning is uncertain) or Waqaywillca, is also called China (female) Salcantay. Veronica and Salcantay are said speak to one another with thunder.

Inca Trail

The people living in the Andes still adore the highest summits as gods, called Apus

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

Inca Trail Peru stock photographs

In Inca times, the reverence to such impressive mountains conceived as deities of great power led to the ritual known as capac cocha, in which children between the ages of six and ten were sacrificed and entombed to appease mountain deities. This type of sacrifice has been brought to public attention through the recovery of the frozen bodies of victims the most famous of them, Juanita, is exhibited in Arequipa.

Arequipa

Misti volcano dominating Arequipa landscape

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

The predominance of mountain replication shrines and solstice alignments suggest that the primary purpose of Machu Picchu was the worship of mountains gods and of the sun. The city is located in a site with several unique convergences between sacred mountains and astronomical alignments. Machu Picchu was located, designed and functioned as a sacred centre where every feature or construction appears to be planned and aligned with a purpose. Its design gives great importance to cardinal directions and solstice orientations in relationship with nearby sacred mountains. Sacred architecture features, ceremonial structures and city planning, everything is designed to provide earthly parallels to the cosmos and is used to guide the ritual movement of people.
Many building groups and features at Machu Picchu have been identified as having alignment to astronomical phenomena or specific topographic features. The alignment of Salkantay, one of the most sacred mountains, with the Pleiades, dark constellations, Milky Way and the Southern Cross are particularly significant at Machu Picchu. A number of features distributed throughout the site are aligned with the June solstice some focused easterly and some to the west. Others several places are instead aligned with December solstice. The entrance corridor, the Sacred Plaza, the Three Windows Temple appear to be all excellent examples of such ritual architecture.

Machu Picchu

the sacred hill

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

Machu Picchu stock photographs

But the primary ceremonial shrine was the Intihuatana, an astro-agricultural clock as well as the symbolic representation of the Inca sacred geography. Built on the Usnu Capac, a rise above the Sacred Plaza, the Intihuatana appears to be a replication of Huayna Picchu and aligned with solstice. Important mountains lie at cardinal directions from the platform, Salkantay is located directly south, Veronica to the east; to the west, the sun sets behind the peak of Pumasillo during the December solstice; while to the North stands the majestic peak of Huayna Picchu. Its ridge top location makes this platform an exceptional place to make astrological observations in association with sacred geography. It is likely that a number of ceremonies and celestial observations were performed here throughout the year.

Machu Picchu

temple of the moon

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

Besides the Intihuatana there are a number of structures in Machu Picchu that share the axis defined by the June solstice sunrise and the December solstice sunset. The beautifully constructed building called the Priest’s House near the main Temple is one of such. The small structure, noteworthy for its elegantly carved stonework, contains a polygonal stone with 32 angles, a stone bench running along the full length of the rear wall, and 13 niches. It faces the setting of the sun at December solstice near the snow peak of Pumasillo.
Another well-known feature on the June solstice sunrise/December solstice sunset axis is the Torreón, popularly called the Temple of the Sun. Similarly to the Pisac Intihuatana stone it has an enclosure that encompasses the protruding peak of the great rock on which it is constructed. The outcropping here was also carved and given a purposeful shape, except that here there is no stem to act as a gnomon. Polygonal surfaces of this "sacred rock" are oriented to sunrises on the days of the winter and summer solstices; it probably functioned as a huaca with the worship of the mountain as primary function.

Machu Picchu

the Torreón, popularly called the Temple of the Sun

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

Machu Picchu stock photographs

  Related Pages
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Cities of Peru
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - The archaeological legacy
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Incan Architecture
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Colonial architecture
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Natural Landscapes
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Trekking and Hiking in Peru
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Birdwatching
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Culture & Traditions

Architectural stock photography	Gallery of beach sea cost and villages pictures
Photo archaeology sites	Landscape stock photo gallery
Nature stock photography	Corsica stock photography and scenic picture
Cusco Peru Travel photos	Tunisia Travel pictures photos of Culture and Civilization
Mediterranean nature and landscape photos Gallery	Portugal images picture gallery Images of Lisbon Alentejo
High quality Italian Images of Lake Como	Images of Turkey Istanbul
Pictures of Spain and Andalucia photos	Sardinia Pictures
Gallery of Brittany France photos	Sicily picture photo gallery
Mountain Pictures	Trees stock photographs
Pictures of Venice Italy and its architecture	Photo of Croatia Split Dubrovnik

Stock Photography Online Digital Library

Stock Photography Online Digital Library of

Inca Trail

Arequipa

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Fine-art Print


- Posters & Prints - Stock Photos - Web Graphics -	Information \| Stock Photography \| Photo Prints \| Contact Us