The Path of Viracocha, the Supreme Person of the Andean World
Even though Inti (Quechua for "Sun") was the life-giver for hundreds of generations of indigenous people in the Americas, the Creator—and thus the Absolute God—in the Andean world was known as Viracocha (pronounced: viracotia).
When the Spaniards arrived in Cusco, intoxicated by the tons of gold deceitfully seized in Cajamarca, they were initially welcomed as liberators. This was because they had killed the despised Atahualpa and seemed to side with the lamented Huáscar.
Upon entering the palace of Coricancha, they were awestruck by its magnificence and wealth. However, they did not know that the three most important objects—two of which represented Viracocha, the supreme being—had already been taken away.
These objects were:
- Huáscar’s golden chain, depicting the double-headed serpent (Yawirka),
- the great solar disc of gold (with Viracocha’s face at its center), and
- an anthropomorphic statue, also representing the Andean god, known as Punchau ("the energy of the Sun").
About twenty years later, when the Spanish scholar Cieza de León arrived at the ruins of Tiahuanaco, the local Aymara elders described their god to him as a magnificent civilizing hero, creator, and reformer of the world, whose name was Viracocha.
Spanish writers who followed Cieza de León, such as Juan Diez de Betanzos and Sarmiento de Gamboa, reconstructed Andean legends after spending years speaking with elders from the Altiplano near Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake on Earth. They described Viracocha as an anthropomorphic being who appeared at the Island of the Sun (Lake Titicaca) during the era of Purun Pacha (the silence after the storm).
Legend holds that during this period, only the spirit of the jaguar (Titi in Aymara) reigned over the vast Andean valleys. But Viracocha manifested on the Island of the Sun. He was tall, strong, white-skinned, with flowing blond hair and a beard. He had come to establish order, create, regenerate, and civilize.
Viracocha possessed immense powers: he could make it rain, flatten mountains, and divert rivers. He created the heavens and the Earth. He then created giants, called Waris Runa, whose progenitor, named Pirua, gave his name to the entire country of Peru.
Viracocha commanded the giants to worship Wari, a mythical being with the body of a Macrauchenia (a real, large mammal resembling an ancient horse), the face of a feline (Titi), and the wings of a condor. The giants then built the first temples to worship Viracocha, Wari, and the Sun (Willka in Aymara).
According to beliefs compiled by Sarmiento de Gamboa, the giants disrespected Viracocha, who retaliated by unleashing a great flood (Uno Pachaci).
According to Blas Valera, the original name of God was Illa Tiki, which in Aymara means "original light." The name Viracocha was given later, when he disappeared into the sea at Tumbes (Vira, foam; cocha, body of water).
After the flood, the Creator divided the world into four parts and created humans, separating them into four peoples who spread out from the center—Lake Titicaca (Titi, jaguar; kaka, fish). His three disciples, tasked with creating animals, plants, and flowers, were named Manco (the legislator), Colla, and Tokay.
At this point, the legend tells of Viracocha embarking on a journey northwest. When he arrived at the site of Raqchi, the inhabitants insulted him, refused to listen to him, and drove him away by throwing stones at him. Viracocha retaliated by raining fire on Raqchi, incinerating all its inhabitants.
During the Inca era, a grand temple dedicated to Viracocha was later built at Raqchi, though it was also looted by the Spaniards, who were searching for Punchau.
Viracocha's journey continued northwest, reaching what is now Cusco, and then followed a straight path to the sea near Tumbes. On those shores, where his disciples awaited him, Viracocha walked on water and departed with his followers into the vastness of the ocean. From that moment, he was called "Viracocha," meaning "foam of the ocean."
The legend of Viracocha has sparked heated debates among historians over the past decades. Some have gone so far as to claim that the Andean god was none other than Jehovah, completing creation in the New World. Others, using the full name Kon Tiki Illa Viracocha, argued that he was simply the "Creator of the World."
Who was Viracocha, really? Perhaps a man with magical powers, revered by his followers as the Absolute God? Or perhaps a man with supernatural abilities who, like Jesus, was considered the son of God?
Is it plausible, as some researchers suggest, that Viracocha was a descendant of Nordic peoples who accidentally arrived at Lake Titicaca?
Maria Scholten (1926–2007), a scholar of Andean mythology, argued in her book La ruta de Viracocha (1977) that during his journey, Viracocha laid the foundations for future cities, which were later constructed.
Scholten verified the existence of a large square cross (chacana), whose center was initially placed at Tiahuanaco and later at Cusco. This geometric design was divided in half by a line forming a 45-degree angle with the equator. This line, known as Capac Ñan, was the very path taken by Viracocha.
Scholten, drawing on the 1613 book Relacion de antiguedades deste Reino del Perú by the indigenous writer Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua, confirmed that Tiahuanaco, Copacabana, Pukara, Raqchi, Cusco (Sacsayhuaman), Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, Vitcos, and Cajamarca are all archaeological sites aligned along Viracocha's path—a line connecting Tiahuanaco with Tumbes.
It is worth noting that the line perpendicular to Viracocha's path, extending northeast from Tiahuanaco, reaches the Atlantic Ocean near Marajó Island at the mouth of the Amazon River. Could this be the place where Viracocha arrived in South America?
According to Bolivian researcher Freddy Arce, the square cross has its center in Tiahuanaco, and studying it could be key to locating Paititi, which he interprets as lying at the northeastern vertex.
When analyzing these squares, subdivided into smaller squares, Maria Scholten placed particular importance on the diagonals. In his article La ruta de Viracocha, Freddy Arce notes that the word "diagonal" is translated as Chekhalluwa in Quechua, which also means "truth."
Whatever the true origin of Viracocha, it is indeed remarkable that many archaeological sites of the ancient Andean world are aligned in such a mysterious way.
YURI LEVERATTO
