Viracocha
Encyclopedia
Viracocha is the great creator god in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology
in the Andes
region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki
) Viracocha. Viracocha was one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon and seen as the creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created, and intimately associated with the sea.
Viracocha created the universe, sun, moon and stars, time (by commanding the sun to move over the sky) and civilization itself. Viracocha was worshipped as god of the sun and of storms. He was represented as wearing the sun for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes as rain.
, Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca (or sometimes the cave of Pacaritambo
) during the time of darkness to bring forth light. He made the sun, moon, and the stars. He made mankind by breathing into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So he destroyed it with a flood and made a new, better one from smaller stones. Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. He wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
noted that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an alb secured round the waist, and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands."
In one legend he had one son, Inti
, and two daughters, Mama Quilla and Pachamama
. In this legend, he destroyed the people around Lake Titicaca
with a Great Flood called Unu Pachakuti
, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world, these two beings are Manco Cápac
, the son of Inti (sometimes taken as the son of Viracocha), which name means "splendid foundation", and Mama Ocllo
, which means "mother fertility". These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called ‘tapac-yauri’. In another legend, he fathered the first eight civilized human beings. In some stories, he has a wife called Mama Cocha.
In another legend, Viracocha had two sons, Imahmana Viracocha and Tocapo Virachocha. After the Great Flood and the Creation, Viracocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the Northeast and Northwest to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Viracocha himself traveled North. During their journey, Imaymana and Tocapo gave names to all the trees, flowers, fruits and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous. Eventually, Viracocha, Tocapo and Imahmana arrived at Cuzco (in modern day Peru) and the Pacific seacoast where they walked across the water until they disappeared. The word "Viracocha" literally means "Sea Foam."
Viracocha's many epithets include great, all knowing, powerful, etc.
Wira-cocha could mean "Fat (or foam) of the sea"
or "Wise One" or "Creator of all things".
The name is also interpreted as a celebration of body fat (Sea of fat), which has a long pre-Hispanic tradition in the Andes region as it is natural for the peasant rural poor to view fleshiness and excess body fat as the very sign of life, good health, strength and beauty.
first encountered the Inca's they were greeted as Gods, "Viracochas", because their lighter skin resembled their God Viracocha. This story was first reported by Pedro Cieza de León
(1553) and later by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
. Similar accounts by Spanish chroniclers (e.g. Juan de Betanzos
) describe Viracocha as a "White God", often with a beard. The whiteness of Viracocha is however not mentioned in the native authentic legends of the Incas and most modern scholars therefore consider the "White God" story to be post-conquest Spanish invention.
Similarly to the Incan god Viracocha, the Aztec
god Quetzalcoatl
and several other deities from Central and South American pantheons, Bochica
is described in legends as being bearded. The beard, once believed to be a mark of a prehistoric European influence and quickly fueled and embellished by spirits of the colonial era, had its single significance in the continentally insular culture of Mesoamerica. The Anales de Cuauhtitlan is a very important early source which is particularly valuable for having been originally written in Nahuatl. The Anales de Cuauhtitlan describes the attire of Quetzalcoatl at Tula:
In this quote the beard is represented as a dressing of feathers, fitting comfortably with academic impressions of Mesoamerican art. While descriptions of Viracocha's physical appearance are open to interpretation, it should be noted that men with beards were frequently depicted by the Peruvian Moche
culture in its famous pottery, long before the arrival of the Spanish:
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/30203/Portrait_Vase_of_Bearded_Figure_Black Modern advocates of fringe theories however such as a pre-Columbian European migration
to Peru continue to cite these bearded ceramics and Viracocha's beard as being evidence for an early presence of a non-Amerindian race in Peru. Although most Indians do not have heavy beards, there are groups who do, such as the Aché
of Paraguay
who also have light skin but who show no evidence of admixture with Europeans and Africans.
The face of Viracocha at Ollantaytambo can be captured as noted by Fernando E. Elorrieta Salazar, Wiracocha, the pilgrim preacher of knowledge, the master knower of time, and described as a person with superhuman power, a tall man, with short hair, dressed like a priest or an astronomer with tunic and a bonnet with four pointed corners.
According to travel writer Paul Jones, "This incredible myth of a Viracocha spreads throughout South America and beyond. This ancient mystical God, who by local legend rose from the middle of Lake Titicaca to create mankind was and is still today truly respected. The rock carving at Ollantaytambo is a striking reminder of the spiritual connections the Inca's had with the Andes."
Inca mythology
Inca mythology includes many stories and legends that are mythological and helps to explain or symbolizes Inca beliefs.All those that followed the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro burned the records of the Inca culture...
in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name...
) Viracocha. Viracocha was one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon and seen as the creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created, and intimately associated with the sea.
Viracocha created the universe, sun, moon and stars, time (by commanding the sun to move over the sky) and civilization itself. Viracocha was worshipped as god of the sun and of storms. He was represented as wearing the sun for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes as rain.
Cosmogony according to Spanish accounts
According to the myth recorded by Juan de BetanzosJuan de Betanzos
Juan de Betanzos wrote one of the most important sources on the conquest of the Incan civilization, Narrative of the Incas. He based this account of the Incas on the testimony of his wife, who had been previously married to Incan King Atahualpa as well as conducting interviews of Incans who had...
, Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca (or sometimes the cave of Pacaritambo
Pacaritambo
In Inca mythology, one of the main Inca creation myths was that of the Ayar Brothers, who emerged from a cave called Pacaritambo . This house was located on Tambotoco Hill. It had three windows...
) during the time of darkness to bring forth light. He made the sun, moon, and the stars. He made mankind by breathing into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So he destroyed it with a flood and made a new, better one from smaller stones. Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. He wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa was a Spanish explorer, author, historian, astronomer, and scientist. His birthplace is not certain and may have been Pontevedra, in Galicia, where his paternal family originated or Alcalá de Henares in Castile, where he later is known to have studied...
noted that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an alb secured round the waist, and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands."
In one legend he had one son, Inti
Inti
According to the Inca mythology, Inti is the sun god, as well a patron deity of the Inca Empire. His exact origin is not known. The most common story says he is the son of Viracocha, the god of civilization.- Worship :...
, and two daughters, Mama Quilla and Pachamama
Pachamama
Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes. Pachamama is usually translated as Mother Earth, but a more literal translation would be "Mother world"...
. In this legend, he destroyed the people around Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It sits 3,811 m above sea level, making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world...
with a Great Flood called Unu Pachakuti
Unu Pachakuti
In Incan mythology, Unu Pachakuti is the name of a flood that Viracocha caused to destroy the people around Lake Titicaca, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world....
, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world, these two beings are Manco Cápac
Manco Capac
Manco Cápac was the legendary first Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco and a figure of Inca mythology. There are several versions of his origin story, which connect him to the foundation of Cusco.- Inti legend :In one myth, Manco Cápac was a son of the sun god Inti and Mama Quilla, and brother of...
, the son of Inti (sometimes taken as the son of Viracocha), which name means "splendid foundation", and Mama Ocllo
Mama Ocllo
In Inca mythology, Mama Cora Ocllo was deified as a mother and fertility goddess. In one legend she was a daughter of Inti and Mama Quilla, and in another the daughter of Viracocha and Mama Cocha. She was the sister and wife of Manco Cápac, and discovered Cuzco with him. She taught the Inca women...
, which means "mother fertility". These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called ‘tapac-yauri’. In another legend, he fathered the first eight civilized human beings. In some stories, he has a wife called Mama Cocha.
In another legend, Viracocha had two sons, Imahmana Viracocha and Tocapo Virachocha. After the Great Flood and the Creation, Viracocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the Northeast and Northwest to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Viracocha himself traveled North. During their journey, Imaymana and Tocapo gave names to all the trees, flowers, fruits and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous. Eventually, Viracocha, Tocapo and Imahmana arrived at Cuzco (in modern day Peru) and the Pacific seacoast where they walked across the water until they disappeared. The word "Viracocha" literally means "Sea Foam."
Etymology
Tiqsi Huiracocha may have several meanings. In the local Quechua language tiqsi means foundation or base, huira (or wira) means fat, and cocha (or qucha) means lake, sea, or reservoir.Viracocha's many epithets include great, all knowing, powerful, etc.
Wira-cocha could mean "Fat (or foam) of the sea"
or "Wise One" or "Creator of all things".
The name is also interpreted as a celebration of body fat (Sea of fat), which has a long pre-Hispanic tradition in the Andes region as it is natural for the peasant rural poor to view fleshiness and excess body fat as the very sign of life, good health, strength and beauty.
Controversy over "White God"
Spanish chroniclers from the 16th century claimed that when the conquistadors led by Francisco PizarroFrancisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of the Republic of Peru.-Early life:...
first encountered the Inca's they were greeted as Gods, "Viracochas", because their lighter skin resembled their God Viracocha. This story was first reported by Pedro Cieza de León
Pedro Cieza de León
Pedro Cieza de León was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru. He is known primarily for his history and description of Peru, Crónicas del Perú...
(1553) and later by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa was a Spanish explorer, author, historian, astronomer, and scientist. His birthplace is not certain and may have been Pontevedra, in Galicia, where his paternal family originated or Alcalá de Henares in Castile, where he later is known to have studied...
. Similar accounts by Spanish chroniclers (e.g. Juan de Betanzos
Juan de Betanzos
Juan de Betanzos wrote one of the most important sources on the conquest of the Incan civilization, Narrative of the Incas. He based this account of the Incas on the testimony of his wife, who had been previously married to Incan King Atahualpa as well as conducting interviews of Incans who had...
) describe Viracocha as a "White God", often with a beard. The whiteness of Viracocha is however not mentioned in the native authentic legends of the Incas and most modern scholars therefore consider the "White God" story to be post-conquest Spanish invention.
Similarly to the Incan god Viracocha, the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
god Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
and several other deities from Central and South American pantheons, Bochica
Bochica
Bochica is a figure in the mythology of the Muisca culture, which existed during the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in areas comprising parts of present day Colombia and Panama...
is described in legends as being bearded. The beard, once believed to be a mark of a prehistoric European influence and quickly fueled and embellished by spirits of the colonial era, had its single significance in the continentally insular culture of Mesoamerica. The Anales de Cuauhtitlan is a very important early source which is particularly valuable for having been originally written in Nahuatl. The Anales de Cuauhtitlan describes the attire of Quetzalcoatl at Tula:
In this quote the beard is represented as a dressing of feathers, fitting comfortably with academic impressions of Mesoamerican art. While descriptions of Viracocha's physical appearance are open to interpretation, it should be noted that men with beards were frequently depicted by the Peruvian Moche
Moche
'The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 800 AD, during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state...
culture in its famous pottery, long before the arrival of the Spanish:
Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
Theories of Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact are those theories that propose interaction between indigenous peoples of the Americas who settled the Americas before 10,000 BC, and peoples of other continents , which occurred before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean in 1492.Many...
to Peru continue to cite these bearded ceramics and Viracocha's beard as being evidence for an early presence of a non-Amerindian race in Peru. Although most Indians do not have heavy beards, there are groups who do, such as the Aché
Aché
The Aché Indians are a traditional hunter-gatherer tribe living in Paraguay. They are called "Guayakí" by Guaraní-speaking neighbors and in early anthropological accounts...
of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
who also have light skin but who show no evidence of admixture with Europeans and Africans.
Representation of Viracocha at Ollantaytambo
According to local myth, a representation of Viracocha – ‘The Creator of Civilization’ is shown in the small village of Ollantaytambo, Southern Peru. Ollantaytambo located in the department of Cusco makes up a chain of small villages along the Urubamba Valley or also known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas, was an important stronghold for the Incan Empire. Facing the ancient Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo in the rock face of 'Cerro Pinkuylluna' is the 140 meter high figure of Wiracocha. The angry looking formation of his face is made up of indentations that form the eyes and mouth, whilst a protruding carved rock denotes the nose. Inca ruins built on top of the face are also considered to represent a crown on his head. Artist impressions of the rock face also include a heavy beard and a large sack upon his shoulders.The face of Viracocha at Ollantaytambo can be captured as noted by Fernando E. Elorrieta Salazar, Wiracocha, the pilgrim preacher of knowledge, the master knower of time, and described as a person with superhuman power, a tall man, with short hair, dressed like a priest or an astronomer with tunic and a bonnet with four pointed corners.
According to travel writer Paul Jones, "This incredible myth of a Viracocha spreads throughout South America and beyond. This ancient mystical God, who by local legend rose from the middle of Lake Titicaca to create mankind was and is still today truly respected. The rock carving at Ollantaytambo is a striking reminder of the spiritual connections the Inca's had with the Andes."
See also
- The Colombian myth of BochicaBochicaBochica is a figure in the mythology of the Muisca culture, which existed during the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in areas comprising parts of present day Colombia and Panama...
which has a similar role as creator and civilizer as Viracocha - Manco CápacManco CapacManco Cápac was the legendary first Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco and a figure of Inca mythology. There are several versions of his origin story, which connect him to the foundation of Cusco.- Inti legend :In one myth, Manco Cápac was a son of the sun god Inti and Mama Quilla, and brother of...
- OdinOdinOdin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
- Staff GodStaff GodThe Staff God is a major deity in Andean cultures. Usually pictured holding a staff in each hand, with fanged teeth and splayed and clawed feet, his other characteristics are unknown, although he is often pictured with snakes in his headdress or clothes....
- TiwanakuTiwanakuTiwanaku, is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five...