Carpe Diem #1435 Coricancha - The Temple of the Sun

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Yesterday we had our first encounter with the ancient Inca Empire. In this Empire the Sun was worshipped and in a lot of buildings like e.g. temples we can see that. All the Inca buildings were created with help of Astronomers, they could tell how the building, a city or a temple had to be built according to the mathematics of the Universe.

The Inca, like the religion of Aton in ancient Egypt, was a one god religion, but there were always smaller deities. Every Inca Emperor was seen as God, and so they were the Sun ...

One of the most beautiful temples of the Inca Empire was situated in Cusco, where we were yesterday, and was called "The Temple of The Sun" or "Coricancha". It was the most important temple of the Empire.

remains of Coricancha in Cusco

Let me tell you a little bit more about this important temple:

Coricancha, the Incas' temple of the sun built in the shadows of the Andes. The thin air and harsh, rocky slopes of the Peruvian Andes wouldn’t seem to be a likely locale for the capital of an extensive pre-Columbus empire. Any community seeking to thrive under these conditions would need to be equipped with tremendous ambition – and no small amount of political and mechanical ingenuity.

Luckily for the Incas, they had these in abundance, and were able to tame the harsh landscapes to create the largest empire in South America before the arrival of the Europeans, using a blend of religious belief, political will and clever design. Nowhere is this more evident than at Coricancha – the temple of the sun – which they built as the crown jewel of their capital city of Cusco, and the centrepiece of an empire that revolutionised city planning in South America.

Pachacútec

When Pachacútec assumed the Incan throne in 1438, he began to reform the city of Cusco by restructuring the street grid, which remains to this day. The city is said to be designed in the shape of a puma, with Coricancha located in the animal’s tail, and considered the holiest site in Incan mythology.

The location of Coricancha within the city was very important. Placed at the convergence of the four main highways and connected to the four districts of the empire, the temple cemented the symbolic importance of religion, uniting the divergent cultural practices that were observed in the vast territory controlled by the Incas.

Inca priest

As well as housing more than 4,000 priests, the positioning of the temple in relation to the nearby Andes mountains meant that Coricancha functioned as an enormous calendar. Shadows cast by stones placed on the foothills could be seen from the temple, marking out the solstice and equinoxes observed by the Incan empire.

The temple complex consisted of four main chambers, each dedicated to a different deity of the moon, stars, thunder and rainbows. Much of Coricancha was filled with gold, with one chamber containing a giant sun disc, reflecting sunlight that illuminated the rest of the temple. The disc was aligned so that during the summer solstice it illuminated a sacred space where only the emperor himself was allowed to sit.

The Sun disc was aligned so that during the summer solstice it illuminated a sacred space where only the emperor himself was allowed to sit. In this we can see how the Emperor of the Inca  was worshipped as a god.

high in the mountains
the sun shines bright and always
eyes of the Inca

© Chèvrefeuille (senryu)

What a richness ... a temple plated with gold to honor the sun and his human form ... the Emperor of the Inca Empire. 

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 24th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new weekend-meditation later on.

Carpe Diem #1431 Chavin Culture

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a wonderful weekend I have had. First there was the International Nurses Day and second today (May 13th) was Mother's Day. Of course I visited my mother. She was released from hospitial and is doing great now. Tomorrow we will celebrate her 88th birthday. Thank you all for being so kind to pray for her health. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend too and especially those of you who are mother, grandmother and mother-in-law. I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Okay ... back to our journey into the high mountains of the Andes. Last Friday I challenged you with an image of Paron Lake and told you already a little bit about our theme for today ... the Chavin Culture, a prehistoric culture that was far ahead on their time.

Chavin de Huantar (photo © Martin St. Amant

The above image shows you an archaeological site of the Chavin Culture. This photo I found on Wikimedia and is made by Martin St, Amant. Let's go and find out some nice information about the Chavin Culture.

The Chavín culture is an extinct, prehistoric civilization, named for Chavín de Huantar, the principal archaeological site at which its artifacts have been found. The culture developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BCE to 200 BCE. It extended its influence to other civilizations along the coast. The Chavín people (whose name for themselves is unknown) were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge. This area is 3,150 metres (10,330 ft) above sea level and encompasses the quechua, suni, and puna life zones. In the periodization of pre-Columbian Peru the Chavín is the main culture of the Early Horizon period in highland Peru.

The Chavin Culture has reached wonderful achievements for example they were wonderful goldsmiths.

Chavin Gold Crown

The chief example of architecture is the Chavín de Huantar temple. The temple's design shows complex innovation to adapt to the highland environments of Peru. To avoid the temple's being flooded and destroyed during the rainy season, the Chavín people created a successful drainage system. Several canals built under the temple acted as drainage. The Chavín people also showed advanced acoustic understanding. During the rainy season water rushes through the canals and creates a roaring sound and creates a noise like a jaguar, a sacred animal. The temple was built of white granite and black limestone, neither of which is found near the Chavín site. This meant that leaders organized many workers to bring the special materials from far away rather than use local rock deposits.

The Chavín culture also demonstrated advanced skills and knowledge in metallurgy, soldering, and temperature control. They used early techniques to develop refined gold work. The melting of metal had been discovered at this point and was used as a solder.

The people domesticated camelids such as llamas. Camelids were used for pack animals, for fiber, and for meat. They produced ch'arki, or llama jerky. This product was commonly traded by camelid-herders and was the main economic resource for the Chavín people. Chavín people also successfully cultivated several crops, including potatoes, quinoa, and maize. They developed an irrigation system to assist the growth of these crops.

More about this Culture? At Wikipedia

A Stela found in Chavin that looks somewhat like a bird

As I look at the above image ... something odd happens. My mind works in a very fast way ... this "stela" looks very much like the "steles" found of Ithe nca and Mayan culture. It seems like in the Andes the spirit is giving its inspiration through the same way. Isn't that odd? Or am I delusional? 

high in the mountains
an eternal creature is dwelling

cultures entwined

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... what a wonderful forgotten culture this is ... the Chavin I never had heard of them.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 20th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.