Tiahuanaco, Bolivia (EFE) Land.
The celebration is also known as the feast of the return of the sun, “Willkakuti” in Aymara or “Inti Raymi” in Quechua.
The main ceremony took place in the pre-Hispanic citadel of Tiahuanaco, almost 80 kilometers from La Paz, as far as the country’s president, Luis Arce, and vice president, David Choquehuanca, along with other government authorities and parliamentarians.
Together with them, dozens of indigenous people, especially Aymara and Quechua, waited since dawn for sunrise or “Tata Inti” to receive its energy, some interpreting native melodies in the Tiahuanacota temple of Kalasasaya, where the central acts were held.
The Pachamama in the center of the Andean New Year
The preamble was marked by the delivery of an offering to Pachamama presented by some “amautas” or indigenous wise men who said prayers in Aymara.
After the appearance of the sun, President Arce said that this is “a very important day for everyone”, because “we renew our devotion to life, nature and living well throughout the country.”
“It is a day to fill oneself with energy, to once again ratify the commitment to work, that things go well for us, of good omens for all of us,” he said.
The same ceremonies were replicated in other parts of the country with the participation of other authorities from different “wakas” or “apachetas”, places considered sacred in indigenous cultures to be part of this festivity.
A pre-Hispanic capital
Tiahuanaco, which has been a World Heritage Site since 2000, has been the center of Andean New Year celebrations in recent decades.
The site was the capital of the ancient pre-Hispanic empire of the same name and today there are imposing lithic monuments such as the Kalasasaya temple, the Semi-subterranean Temple, sculptures of its hierarchs, the Puerta del Sol and remains of military and civil palaces.
The celebration of the “Willkakuti”, which also means the change in the agricultural cycle for sowing in the fields, coincides with the southern winter solstice, when the shortest day and longest night take place in the Southern Hemisphere.
The name of the festival has evolved with inclusion criteria, since it began to be celebrated a few decades ago in Tiahuanaco as Aymara New Year, then it was called Aymara-Quechua New Year and later Andean New Year.
In 2009, the then government of Evo Morales named the celebration the Andean Amazon New Year and decreed that every June 21 be a national holiday, and in 2017 the name included the Chaco area.