Yesterday Cusco celebrated Corpus Christi, one of the biggest festivals of the year. Corpus Christi is an ancient Catholic holiday (dating from 1247) originally intended to honor the eucharist. When the Spaniards arrived in Cusco in 1532, they were appalled to find that the indigenous Quechuas had a tradition of parading around town with their
huacas (sculpted images of their gods) and their mummies. They swiftly replaced these "graven images" with a number of Catholic saints, which to this day are carried around the Plaza de Armas in a grand procession every year in celebration of Corpus Christi.
Here is San Cristóbal, wating in front of the cathedral for the procession. They say that still hidden inside this guy is a
huaca from the Inca days.
San Cristóbal and friends poised in front of the cathedral amid a million bajillion people in the Plaza de Armas. There are a total of fifteen saints and virgin Marys that participate in the Corpus Christi. Check out those funny bright-colored hats that some people were wearing (and others were selling) to protect themselves from the fierce Cusco sun.
Here is San Cristóbal, wating in front of the cathedral for the procession. They say that still hidden inside this guy is a huaca from the Inca days.
1 comment:
mummies and "graven" images. hah! nice pun.
these pictures are really cool. I like all of the info that i'm getting from your posts, too. it's really fascinating.
here's a random question for you:
how hard is it to get a hold of one of those hats? how expensive would they be?
i have more hat questions that i want to ask you later.
i'm loving these corpus christi posts.
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