Overview about Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo is a small town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, in southern Peru. Situated at the confluence of two rivers, it is one of the flattest areas in a steep-walled valley, known for its rich topsoil and abundant water. Like the other towns and cities in the valley, it derives its name from a sub-valley that bears the same designation.
In addition to being a bustling train station that welcomes tourists almost daily, it is also home to a substantial collection of ruins that represent some of the few remaining examples of Incan urban design. The largest and most impressive structure is a temple to the creator god, complete with ritual baths, storehouses, and other administrative buildings. There are also sets of terraces that were used for agriculture, as well as a number of closely packed blocks of houses that were almost certainly inhabited by the local elite. Our project is an exploration of the many stories told about this site:
Ollantaytambo’s myths and legends.
The towns of the former Inca Empire are a unique blend of Catholic colonialism and indigenous Andean culture. It is common to meet elderly women wearing the traditional peasant costume or campesina dress while carefully removing bruised or diseased bits of produce to sell at the day’s market.
Ollantaytambo is no exception to this rich blend of cultures. Situated in a valley that has been continuously inhabited since at least the thirteenth century, Ollantaytambo is an important site in Inca history and one that remains a cornerstone of local identity. Even today, as the region develops and communication with the outside world increases, Ollantaytambo’s residents espouse a highly localized understanding of what it means to be from the town or the region.
The legends and myths explored in this paper play a very real part in shaping local knowledge of the past. These stories also contain an element of moralizing for those who take the time to reflect on them, and many locals will use the old tales as parables when they are imparting a bit of local wisdom to others.
1. The Inca Civilization
When the Spanish first arrived in what is now Peru in 1532, the Incas were in sole control of a complex and integrated polity, covering much of present-day Peru and Bolivia. Like Mesoamerica, the Andean civilization boasted the remnants of what we call a high civilization. It had not only complex and finely differentiated technology but also economically, politically, and socially differentiated societies.
Though it ultimately did not boast a form of writing, the hieroglyphs of the Nazca and early Moche provide evidence of earlier scripts. Becoming a state sometime in the 12th or 13th century, the Inca state was divided into quarters with Cusco in the center, and each of the quarters, Contisuyo to the northwest, Antisuyu to the northeast, and Collasuyu to the south of Cusco, had its own bureaucratic structure.
Some would consider Ollantaytambo an intermediate or frontier area; Inca stories place it north of Cusco at the eastern edge of the Collasuyu. On the other hand, Ollantaytambo was also a wealthy estate; located at the western end of the Urubamba Valley, it controlled access to and from the well-populated regions to the northeast around Lake Titicaca.
Many Incas had extensively adapted to both lowland and highland life. Before they became rulers of an empire, the Incas were ruled by one of at least three different accessions of an administrative dynasty. With the foundation of the Inca dynasty during the culture of Tardio, the Fourth Dynasty, known as the “Imperial” or “Inca,” began to consolidate power.
Although stories exist about a founder named Manco Capac, they are based on Inca legend. Centralizing policies, including heavy taxes, allowed him to control village life in the Cusco region. Inca myths often contained some element of history, moral, or Incan value in them. Inca rulers, in using these myths, legitimized their rule and made the “lessons learned in the ancient past” relevant to present conditions.
2. Inca Religion and Cosmology
The world of the Andean religion is composed of an important number of deities, spirits, ghosts, and personified things. The supernatural world, as the Andeans experience it, is a misty one that is not static. Rather, it is influenced by living men. It is therefore a symbiotic relationship, requiring that you give to receive, and is an essential part of daily life that is connected with the land.
In addition to the macrocosm of mountains, water, stars, time, and villages found in the cosmos, there exists another environment known as the microcosm, which is the world of individuals and memories. The belief in many gods and spirits obviously had a major impact on the organization of life and society. The Andean dualities are synonymous with the concept of order.
However, the political centralization was more turned to the belief in dualism in nature, in which the balance of all beings, not including only men but also gods, had great importance. This study therefore argues that the intimate relationship between man and nature forces balance and reciprocity, lest the cosmos, microcosm, and macrocosm all fall apart.
The concept intensified during ceremonies dedicated to the worship of a deity, often a member of the upper class. This serves as a crucial indicator of the interplay between the Inca’s political power, that of other nations, that of the Inca with Pachamama, and that of society with the organized state.
The reports help us identify the complex links between Inca cosmology, political power, hierarchical ordering, the relationship with society and the ethnic unit, and the socio-religious landscape. Reading maps of the Sacred Valley, the sacred landscape can be extended to Ollantaytambo, extending formally to Wiñayhuayna and Machupicchu. From Wañupija and Ancasmarka, the panorama is extended further, allowing sight to the mountaintops around Cuzco. According to Inca Ollantaytambo, the high mountains were part of the sacred mountains of Apus, to which the Inca lord had to maintain a good relationship.
3. Key mythological figures
Myths revealed fundamental characteristics of the people who told them by presenting stories in which the most attractive qualities of their heroes and deities were brought to the surface. The morals and ethics of a society or sect are discernible in such tales; for example, the values that are criticized, punished, or rewarded. Among the most important characters in myths are hero-gods, creators, founders, and ancestral spirits.
Other social groups, however, have their own deities and mythical figures. Some of these outstanding figures are presented here with the roles they played in the legends of Ollantaytambo as they are currently known.
Killamama was the spirit of agricultural fertility and storytelling in Ollantaytambo. She had been a lover of one of the last of the panaca kings, who was active in the pre-Hispanic era when the Inca empire was flourishing and the Hanan-Cuzco ruling group was its dominant caste. Inkarri was a god-hero-prince who, when freshly created by the ancestors, rose from their island of cave homes and climbed on his horse to bring bounty to his entire kingdom.
3.1: Wiracocha, the Inca Creator God
Wiracocha, whose name means “god of the diverse universe” or “time and space,” is the revered creator god of the Inca. He intended to create space itself so that human beings, at the most opportune moment, would assume it for themselves. If he was the creator, he implicitly shaped space and, as the passage suggests, time. But even more simply, he eloquently told his fellow gods that he long ago composed music, and from that, the world emerged.
Wiracocha was, therefore, associated with music and the order of the cosmos, which simultaneously are properties of the “state” of sitting or meditation on the part of the Andean senior, transcendent deity. Wiracocha was, in effect, the active power of this overarching state. He knew everything and was the first to obtain an internal state of rest. Kuntur Wasi was meant to be a complete and genuine copy of the cosmos by order of mysteries, so humans could have imitated the same to become divine beings.
The mythology of Wiracocha manifested in stories about his interactions with humans and the earthly creation, his preference for certain rulers, his portrayal as a “visiting deity,” his exceptional understanding of the cosmos, his wizardly abilities, and the characteristics of his elevated dwelling or place of worship. By being synonymous with the cosmos, he also emerged with life and creation in the macrocosmic sense, the possibility of all metaphysical order, and, once again, with the nature of his sacred plant, coca.
4. Mythical Origins of Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo, one of the finest examples of Inca city planning, was devoted to honoring the people’s ancestors, the first three generations who were the beginning of the imperial lineage of the Incas, and houses a great temple. According to Incan descendancy, over four hundred years ago, the first Inca Manco Ccapac, born from the sun, emerged from Lake Titicaca to found the city of Cusco, “the navel of the world.”
The community preserves a myth that Manco Ccapac received three staffs, symbols of authority, from the god of the sun in Lake Titicaca. The sun then instructed him to search for a sacred bull and locate his home there. The bull turned out to be standing on the terraced hill of Ollanta, precisely where the temple was built, so Manco Ccapac settled to build the city that was considered the center of the world of the then-known humankind, which was called the capital of the Inca Empire, and nowadays it is known as Cusco.
The chroniclers believe Ollantay was the hostel or gateway established to guard the first Inca. The proliferation of these legendary stories as part of the historic identity of the village has its roots in the religious complex itself. Indeed, the narratives are given pride of place by the local guides, as well as providing stories of heroic deeds that contributed to the development and prestige of the town. The relationship between the landscape of Ollantaytambo and its mythological origins is omnipresent in Andean societies, as the narratives themselves refer to the local environment that supports both the myth and those who live by it.
4.1. The Legend of Ollantay
In the temple precinct of Inkatambo stands a monument. The mountain’s contours form a face above it, while a stone-carved ditch below guides the train through. This is ‘Parach’u-punku’, the Gate of Dawn and Dusk, and its sculpture watches over the town. It is in this format that the urban contour is influenced by a perceptive and profound symbolic interplay, shaped by myth and history, nature, and culture.
High on the mountain to the south, facing the Wayraqtambo slopes, is a rock formation around which a story unfolds. The Legend of Ollantay is a tale of love and forbidden social order, which tells the tale of Ollantay, a strong, valiant warrior whose love with a beautiful woman of high birth cannot be. Masko-qhapaq recognizes his bravery in battle and elevates him to the rank of general, promising him his daughter Kusiwaqi upon his return. When Ollantay returns, the princess’s maidservants mock him for his low birth, prompting his love to confront them and demand his beheading or banishment from her sight.
She also drops their love bracelets from the top of the fortress where Ollantay was standing. He is devastated and repeatedly charges the fortress to take his beloved away but only suffers more pain. Eventually, the coup d’état succeeds, leading to the reunion and marriage of Ollantay and Kusiwaqi. This story intertwines the theme of romantic love triumphing over a social order founded on birth as a manifestation of the place and ancestry.
The king and the state, purportedly seeking to control his daughter’s behavior, clash with the strength of rebellious passion. Like the myths of Nust’a or P’unchaw, Muquqi in Urubamba, the central “articles of faith” and speech of her father-to-be’s description reinforce the local values of a particular time. They served their time as well as providing commentary.
The narratives, historical depth, and scarred precincts of Kusiwaqi and Ollantay, where they lived, loved, and fought to the death, transform the archaeological site of the Inka tambos of Pikillaqta, Hatun-tampu, and Ollantaytambo into Kaqchikel Maya Chachaklemuy dust and god lore, brimming with historical meaning and traces of the ancient past. In the failed summit at a range of time near temporary leaders, commanders, kings, rulers, time-travelers, or magicians’ coronation, tragedy, and cave death become the romantic, tragic backdrop of the magnificent Inka settings.
5. Sacred Sites and Temples
One of the interesting things about Ollantaytambo is that there are a few locations that are still used as sacred sites today, and it is worth knowing their significance. The best-preserved ruins, as well as the main temple of Ollantaytambo, face our hotel, which is located on the opposite side of the Plaza de Armas.
The Incas sought to align themselves with the annual movement of the sun by carrying out their religious activities where it was most present. This main temple contains a sun altar and magnificent wall featuring the genius trapezoid-shaped stones of the Incas. A little higher along the narrow steps are the Baths of the Princesses of the Sun Virgins, each with a separate channel of frigid Andean spring water.
On the top of the facing mountain can be seen the ruins of the Sun Temple, only a 15-minute climb for an exceptional view of the valley. The temple of the Virgin of Q’enqo, located below our hotel to the left, is a trapezoid-shaped Inca cave temple with a large carved sun altar and niches still containing ceremonial items.
The Inca complex of Ollantaytambo is made up of a large number of sacred sites and temples. The most sacred spaces and prominent milk-producing sites faced the sun, especially toward the direction of Tiwanaku. The temples were made to measure and shaped along the lines of the surrounding peaks and moors, which were believed to be sentient living persons that were to be addressed during all offerings in ceremony. Everything in the old sacred temples is circular, making circulation from right to left with offerings a primary form of worship. Among all temples, a few stand out as particularly noteworthy.
5.1: The Temple of the Sun
The principal building structure of Ollantaytambo, the Temple of the Sun, merits this designation as the temple is the heart of why Ollantaytambo was potentially designed in its plethora shape. Located at the center of the site, both physically and cosmologically, the temple is situated on a massive outcrop of bedrock where the town’s extent extends.
Just as during Inka days, that entire area between the angular base of the outcrop and the Rio Ollantaytambo’s eastern bank is a vast pampa, much of which was initially terraced, and the majority of which was occupied by ritual sites, platforms, and habitations dedicated to Inkarri or the Urcos/Mallku.
The temple was the center of solar worship and was made from intricately carved megalithic stones. The stonework in the Temple of the Sun is one of the best archaeological examples of Inka buildings found in Peru and rivals the sophistication of other famous ruins in its quality and engineering.
The Grito del Sol and Celebración del Agua served as a center for Inti worship, where the Inka inhabitants of Ollantaytambo would perform various ceremonies. Myth and ceremony are still integrally tied to the town’s physical locale, as the temple remains the main ceremonial spot in Ollantaytambo; today the Inka cross-intersecting niches of the torreón are visited for spiritual connection to the center of the cosmos, and leaving offerings to Pachamama is common throughout the town.
6. Cultural practices and rituals
Life in Ollantaytambo is characterized by a number of cultural practices and rituals that perpetuate the beliefs and mythologies of indigenous peoples who made this territory their home thousands of years ago. Since time immemorial, people have forged their lives according to a series of practices and rituals unique to their natural environment.
Based on their association with the spiritual world, these yearly activities are breeding grounds for symbols of nature and the universe, expressed in the customs and general living of its communities. Among annual practices are a number of activities tied to agriculture or colcas, the sowing and harvesting of giant white corn, and the various ceremonies to be carried out depending on the Andean-Equatorial ritual calendar, most of which celebrate the first soles and moments of the principal religious rituals: all the agricultural practices, the festive days, and so on.
Many ceremonies are deeply rooted in the symbolism of ritual cycles of invocations, cleansings, offerings, and blessings, and their dates are of vital importance for people living in the Sacred Valley, marking significant changes to their traditional way of life. Rituals are community-based, communal activities permitting the summoning of the entire population, thus ensuring the unity of the culture and strengthening local identities.
They also ensure the participation of a group of experts and costumed individuals who narrate ancient myths, revealing the power of generative acts and favoring their perennial repetition through active memory. As such, myths are transmitted by orality, through the power of storytelling and passing down initiations and mystical and scholarly knowledge from one generation to the next, to awaken people spiritually and emotionally and thus burst into religious celebrations in the present, in addition to adjusting agro-livestock methods to the rhythms and characteristics of the land and climate.
The rationale behind the event is the continuation of the mythical tradition of communal storytelling, with the myth relating the history of the world, introducing the primary people who have since then become the various living Inca cultures, and so on. There is also the telling of Ayar’s prophecy concerning the coming of the Inca himself, who, according to myth, should have passed through but did not, since his bearing on the order of the world was enough to turn that place into the navel of the universe. At the conclusion of the legend, people celebrate the ‘noble Inca’ with dance, feasting, and the sharing of specially prepared chicha, among other things.
7. Interpretation and symbolism
The narratives that were recited in the sanctuary of Ollantaytambo and which were engraved into the Andean landscape at that site were not “myths” in the sense in which we understand the word as “collective dreams” or elaborated symbols made up of a more superficial meaning, but could be rather understood as symbolic epics.
The same narrative is at once an extraordinary chronicle of the events of a very distant past, constituting the very history of the founding and social configuration of the sanctuary, with an enduring meaning that can be applied to the society of multiple times and places.
The primary oral narrations of these four myths, as indicated in nearly all cases by the deity who resides within the sanctuary, hold multiple meanings that unfold one after the other, depending on particularities of social and cultural perspective.
Indeed, we maintain that, as with life and death, the same applies to the cosmogonic events sung about in the abovementioned texts. Various “versions” of the story elaborate these meanings in successive layers of symbolism in a strophic manner, completing each other or even participating in the same character or landscape element, all while providing the same cognitive meaning.
These meanings relate both to social and political events and to Inca cosmology. In this first part of the essay, however, we will only consider the political interpretation. The version of the story that we shall use in this study is a reconstruction of various texts. The versions are nearly identical in substance, although one reeducation is used to explain one part of the narrative that is lacking in the other texts.
7.1: Cosmic Alignment and Architecture
One small window in a narrow alley, where the stone passageway is too narrow for two modern people to pass without squeezing together, conceals treasures related to the alignment of buildings with stars and constellations. The houses within the alley, along with the alley itself, date back to colonial or Republican times, while the main building in the photograph is a product of Inca construction.
This direct alignment was used to aid and announce agricultural times of the year worked in unison by villagers. Concerning the chamber and waterworks within the Rocas complex of Ollantaytambo, where water never had free flow or simply meandered, the lights of the stars could have justly reflected the fact that, as with the sun, these times dominated life in general within religious and ritual practice. Numerous false windows on the black basalt Inca walls at Waqrapukara and Raq’achi reveal the edges of the surrounding mountains. The introduction of a tape measure with a compass revealed one set of false openings facing the constellation of Capricorn, a triplicate or complementary event.
I have previously documented several houses in Ollantaytambo, some of which direct energy toward sun positions and minor coincidences. For instance, the Amparos hotel and its external chamber, which houses an Inca and pre-Inca cave, direct the birth anniversary in March toward the white sands and the dipping sunlight of the Pampaconas Rivers.
8. Incorporating Catholicism
In Ollantaytambo, the indigenous population of the Peruvian Andes incorporated Catholicism into their traditional religious views, often called syncretism, a process also expressed in mestizo, or mixed, art. Spanish missionaries permitted some degree of this to occur; it was believed that simply referring to native gods by Spanish names would make them convert to Catholicism. Religious beliefs were not always uniform even among Spanish colonists, leading to confusion because no one understood that the same deity might have several names.
The first missionaries in Ollantaytambo arrived on horseback, carrying banners and accompanied by military personnel. The natives stood in two lines at the church door, holding coca leaves as a sign of welcome. The church was built atop an Inca temple, mystifying the natives. One chieftain used to say that the black figure of Jesus hanging on the crucifix was its image, or receptacle, conducive to beneficial agricultural production; if Jesus’ feet fell, though, it would augur a year of scarcity.
Over time, the Catholic calendar of festivities incorporated numerous indigenous customs, such as Ayamaran, a carnival-like street fest, with slight alterations. One coachman claimed the Virgin of Rosario guided his horses; she responded when spoken to, so he could turn corners without turning around. As one priest explained, ‘Our religion changed; we adapted to their way of ceremonies, but it didn’t change the essence.’ Faith, such as Catholicism and ancient Andean beliefs, forms an essential aspect of cultural identity; it is also highly dynamic.
Religious change thus is a main variable defining patterns of cultural transformation. Ollantaytambo gradually incorporated Catholicism into its Andean spiritual life. During the colonial period, people here, as in much of Peru, adopted a ‘double belief’ or ‘double faith,’ holding some indigenous beliefs along with Christianity. Inti, or the Inca sun god, became hybridized with Jesus.
9. Modern-Day Significance
Ollantaytambo’s economy now heavily relies on tourism, particularly in relation to Machu Picchu. Most of the tourists are international, but there are also Peruvian tourists. As many as 1,500 to 2,500 tourists visit the archaeological site each day. Recent years have seen the construction of a few new hotels, along with an increase in dining and shopping options, thereby generating employment opportunities.
Some dances of the Lord of Choquekillka are performed each June, carried out by young people from the community, and as the years pass, more young people from old Ollantaytambo will perform more dances. They also celebrate the Independence Day of the United States, the Civic Day of Peru, and other special traditional holidays with a Mass in Roman Catholicism. People make offerings to the mountains and perform traditional dances in old Inca costumes.
Efforts have been made to control outside influences, such as stopping construction on religious pilgrimage routes or rerouting roads that cross the site. Major efforts at archaeological conservation have been in force since 1990. Local people are encouraged to become guides for the site, schools give presentations at the site, and students receive scholarships for continuing education in tourism or archaeology.
A group of people in old Inca costumes performs traditional dances, accompanied by a group of highland musicians. Ollantaytambo’s modern residents not only attend the performances but also extend invitations to their older counterparts to witness the dances. Ollantaytambo has remained a vibrant center of cultural identity.
Such engagement with the past and the site provides a sense of continuity and relevance. Ollantaytambo thus makes efforts on various levels to make the past relevant. Some of these, such as investments in tourism, are viewed as less community-based and more commercially driven, but others, such as the use of the area for community tours, form part of an active projection of the heritage by the producers of the site.
9.1: Tourism and preservation efforts
Era and Authentication of Sacred Landscape. Tourism and Historic Preservation. The influency of tourists in the town of Ollantaytambo has changed the daily life of the population and the physical geography of the town. The influency of tourists has brought about changes in clothing styles and attire, the types of food available, and the types of goods and real estate visible in the marketplace.
The number of local and international tourists has caused non-profit organizations and individuals to undertake improvement projects. Similarly, the Municipal Government of Ollantaytambo has increased efforts to conserve the patrimony of the town through the creation of management plans. The need to preserve the town’s cultural characteristics and safeguard the natural environment, which provides food and healing, has motivated these conservation and preservation plans.
Popular tourism has caused the erosion of natural resources, including the loss of native plant species for use in weavings and medicinal remedies and the need to find alternative sites for agriculture. International commercial interests in the town could exert pressure to drive international tourists away from the archaeological site, generating additional income for the town and diminishing the potential influence of local communities.
These threats could have limited the possibilities for success in preserving the historic architecture and infrastructure in appropriate and historical conditions; however, the conversion to the town plan has stopped the advancement of these groups and revitalized the hope of those working in the heritage conservation field.
