Cuniraya Huiracocha is a creator god of the Andean culture, more specifically of the Peruvian territory. It is believed that it is the entity that intervenes in times of crisis. He is also seen as a culture hero.
His belief remained as a myth after the Spanish imposed the Catholic God. However, the stories about this deity were archived by those who traveled throughout the Sierra de Lima.
Thanks to Francisco de Ávila, who was in charge of implanting the Catholic religion in Peru, the history of this entity is currently known.
There is much more information available about this God than about others; This may be because it was easy for the Spanish to explain the idea of the existence of a single creator God through this deity.
Etymology
The first Spanish chroniclers who arrived in America did not yet have such a highly developed Spanish. This implies that there was confusion with the "v" and the "w", even associating them with the traditional "u".
The Spanish wrote about this entity as Viracocha. According to Sarmiento Gamboa, a chronicler recognized for writing on this subject, Viracocha means "sea fat or foam."
This he deduced because, in the Quechua language, «wira» means «fat or greasy», while «qucha» implies «extension of water».
As affirmed by linguistic, archaeological and historical data, the term "huiracocha" was a transformation into Quechua of the Aymara term "wilaquta".
"Quta" means "lake" and "wila" means "blood." Societies such as the pre-Incas used to make animal sacrifices around Lake Titicaca. In such sacrifices, the lake was dyed red.
Francisco de Ávila, together with Andean helpers, compiled the stories and myths about Huiracocha. The first translation into Spanish of the texts was made by José María Arguedas. This book is entitled Gods and Men of Huarochirí.
Myth
The story goes that Cuniraya was a huaca (that is, a god) who liked to take the appearance of a man from the street.
He fell in love with a woman named Cahuillaca. She was a very beautiful maiden and had never been touched by any man.
One day she was weaving next to a tree. Cuniraya noticed that it had fruit on the top, and threw a fruit.
If she ate the fruit, she would get pregnant. Cahuillaca gladly ate the fruit and became pregnant.
At 9 months she had a son and breastfed him until he reached a certain age. She did not know to whom the title of father belonged, and she summoned all the huacas for the son to make the recognition. They all dressed in their best clothes and went to the meeting.
Once there, everyone was sitting naturally except Cuniraya, who was in the corner in his dirty cape and rags. No huaca recognized Cahuillaca's son as hers, and she did not ask the man on the corner.
Seeing that no one was taking responsibility for the child, she let him crawl closer to his father. The boy did not recognize anyone until he turned the corner where Cuniraya was. He crawled over to the spot and tried to climb on his feet.
Seeing that the father was that one, Cahuillaca said: «Ay de me! How could I give birth to a son of such a miserable man?
He prepared to run and Curiraya wanted to win his love. He dressed in gold, transformed, and decided to chase her. He tried to get her to turn around to vindicate herself, but she never did.
Legend has it that it reached Pachacamac, offshore, and both were transformed into stone. Currently two humanoid shaped stones can be found at this site.
It is said that Cuniraya, while searching for Cahuillaca, was cursing and benefiting animals and people on his way.
This story has had several versions and has been told in different ways, but it essentially maintains what the original story told.
References
- Who was Cuniraya Huiracocha ?. (2016, April 3). Recovered from Brainly: brainly.lat. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- The myth of Cuniraya Huiracocha. (2015, June 25). Obtained from Dictionary of Myths and Legends: cuco.com.ar. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- Huiracocha (God). Obtained from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- Peruvian Oral Tradition: ancestral and popular literatures, Volume 2. (February 2006). Enrique Ballón Aguirre. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- Cuniraya Huiracocha (Legend). (February 2, 2012). Obtained from Blogspot- Up to date with nuances: aldiaconmatices.blogspot.com. Retrieved October 3, 2017.