Pacha Kamaq
Pachacamac or Pacha Kamaq, but at the same time affirms that Pachacamac has neither beginning nor end; he also addresses Pachamama, whom these gods impregnate.
Tahuantinsuyu adopted Pacha Kamaq when they incorporated the Ichma into their empire. In late Inca mythology he was the father of Inti and Mama Killa, and husband of Mama Pacha. The Wari, the Pachacamac empire, Chancay, Chimor and Ichma possessed the city of Pachacamac at some point but it is unknown if any other peoples, apart from the Ichma, worshipped the Pacha Kamaq deity.
Likewise, Pachacamac was considered "the creator" in the cultures of Lima, Chancay, Ichma, Huari and Chincha.
Etymology
The name of the god Pachacámac, often written simply asThe relative phrase thus formed poses some translation problems, as it can be translated as “he who creates the world” or “he who sustains the universe,” among others.
Concept
Some sources considered Pachacámac to be a god who, similar to his counterpart Viracocha, was invisible and unknown, since no one had ever seen him. This description portrays the god Pachacámac in the same way as his counterpart: an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient god. However, for some scholars, the above description belongs more to an abstract concept than to a god himself.Among the aforementioned sources is that provided by the famous chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega. In his work Royal Commentaries, Garcilaso describes Pachacámac as follows:
"They held Pachacámac in greater inner veneration than the Sun, which, as I have said, they did not dare to mention by name, whereas they named the Sun at every turn. When asked who Pachacámac was, they said that he was the one who gave life to the universe and sustained it, but that they did not know him because they had not seen him, and that for this reason they did not build temples or offer sacrifices to him, but rather worshipped him in their hearts and considered him an unknown God."However, Garcilaso's description seems to refer more to how the nobility perceived the figure of Pachacámac than to the population of Tahuantinsuyo in general.Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Capítulo II
The chronicler also mentions that the Incas, like other cultures, came to question the supremacy of their main god, in this case, the Sun.
The same source mentions that the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, questioning the hegemony of the sun, is said to have said the following:
"Many say that the Sun lives and is the maker of all things; it is fitting that he who does something should attend to the thing he does, but many things are done while the Sun is absent; therefore, it is not the creator of all things; and that it is not alive can be deduced from the fact that it never tires of turning: if it were alive, it would tire like us, or if it were free, it would visit other parts of the sky, where it never goes. It is like a tethered animal, always circling in the same place; or like an arrow that goes where it is sent and not where it would like to go."Continuing with the source, Inca Huayna Capac also expressed such doubts about the hegemony of the sun cult. While Huayna Capac was talking to a priest, the Inca said to him:Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Capítulo VIII
"I want to ask you two questions in response to what you have told me. I am your King and universal lord. Would any of you be so bold as to order me to rise from my seat and travel a long way?
The priest replied, “Who would be so foolish as to do that?”
The Inca replied, “And would there be any curaca among my vassals, however rich and powerful he might be, who would not obey me if I ordered him to go by post from here to Chili?”
The priest said, “No, Inca, there would be no one who would not obey you to the death in everything you commanded him.”
The Inca then said: “Well, I tell you that Our Father the Sun must have another lord greater and more powerful than himself. He commands him to travel this path that he travels every day without stopping, because if he were the Supreme Lord, he would stop walking from time to time and rest at his leisure, even if he had no need to do so.”"
Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Capítulo X
Features
Ychsma renamed Pachacamac
Before being incorporated into the Inca pantheon, Pachacámac was known by the names Ychsma, Ichma, or Irma. The link between the coastal deity and the Tahuantinsuyo was established diplomatically by the Inca Tupac Yupanqui.The historian Hernando de Santillán emphasizes this relationship in his work Relación del origen, descendencia, política y gobierno de los Incas. In this work, the historian mentions the following:
"The worship of guacas, is a modern introduction by Topa Inga, and they say that the origin of worshipping guacas and tenellas as gods arose because when Topa Inga's mother was pregnant with him, she spoke from her womb and said that the Maker of the Earth was in the Yungas, in the Irma Valley. After a long time, when Topa Inga was already a man and a lord, his mother told him what had happened, and once he knew, he decided to go and find the Maker of the Earth in the valley of Irma, which is now called Pachacama, and there he spent many days in prayer and fasted many times. and after forty days, Pachacama spoke to him, saying that he was the Maker of the Earth, and told him that he was very happy to have found him, and that he was the one who gave life to all things below, and that the Sun was his brother and gave life to those above The guaca told them through the stone from which he spoke that they should build him a house. Then the Inca had it built in his presence, and it is a building that still stands today, tall and sumptuous, which they call the great guaca of Pachacama, on a large mound of earth that seems almost entirely man-made, with the building on top of it; and there the guaca told the Inca that his name was Pachacama, which means the one who gives life to the Earth; and so the name of the valley was changed from Irma to Pachacama."
Relación del origen, descendencia, política y gobierno de los Incas
The true idol of Pachacamac
According to Hernando Pizarro, brother of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who wrote an account of his visit to Pachacámac, the idol was destroyed and its treasure captured to be taken to Cajamarca.In his "Carta a los magníficos señores oidores de la audiencia real de Santo Domingo sobre la conquista del Perú ", he states that:
"The cave where the idol was kept was very dark, so dark that it was impossible to enter without a torch, and very dirty inside. I made all the chiefs of the region who had come to see me go inside so that they would lose their fear; and in the absence of a preacher, I gave them my sermon, telling them about the deception in which they were living."
Carta a los magníficos señores oidores de la audiencia real de Santo Domingo sobre la conquista del Perú
Francisco López de Xerez, secretary to Francisco Pizarro, clearly stated that there were several replicas of the idol of Pachacámac around the main enclosure that was desecrated by Hernando Pizarro. López de Xerez described it as follows:
"He was in a nice house, well painted and well furnished, and in a very dark and smelly room, very closed off, they have an idol made of very dirty wood, and they say that it is their god, the one who raises and sustains them and provides for them. At its feet they had offered some gold jewelry. Throughout the streets of this town, and at its main gates, and around this house, they have many wooden idols, and they worship them in imitation of their devil."
Verdadera relación de la conquista del Perú y provincia del Cuzco llamada la Nueva Castilla
This data indicates that the true idol of Pachacámac was completely different and that, since it was destroyed, there is no information about what that true idol might have looked like.
Pachacámac and the figure of the fox
The god Pachacámac is associated with multiple elements. Among them is his evident association with canines.In this regard, Cristóbal de Albornoz offers a description of Pachacámac. The extirpator of idolatries refers to the deity as:
"Pachacamac, the main treasure of the Indians of the province of Ychmay, the most important in this kingdom, was a golden fox that stood on a hill, handmade, next to the town of Pachacama."This same fox had two representations, the first being the aforementioned idol made of gold and the other being the mummified body of the animal. Regarding the mummified body, Albornoz writes:
Instrucción para descubrir todas las guacas del Pirú y sus camayos y haziendas
"Tantanamoc, from the Ychmas Indians, was a dead fox that lay at the door of Pachacamac."Information about Tantanamoc can also be found in the Huarochirí manuscript. Interestingly, in this manuscript, the figure of the fox is linked to telluric movements, which is one of the many associations of Pachacámac.
Instrucción para descubrir todas las guacas del Pirú y sus camayos y haziendas
Pachacamac, the one who moves the world
The ancient Peruvians believed that Pachacámac only had to move his head slightly to cause massive cataclysms and that if he moved completely, the universe would come to an end.This belief has been documented in the Huarochirí manuscript. The following can be read in this source:
"The Incas were well acquainted with all the huacas everywhere. And they ordered each huaca to hand over its gold and silver, as recorded in the quipus; they made them all hand it over, everywhere.
We call sacred silver and sacred gold the gold . They made them give all these things according to what was recorded in the quipus. But the great huacas were not subject to these measures. Taking into account the established order, when they came to worship Llocllayhuancupa, they went the next day to Sucyahuillca to serve him, for they feared him because he was their father.
These are the truths we know about Pachacamac, whom they call “He who moves the world.” They say that when he gets angry, the world moves; that it also shakes when he turns his head to either side. That is why his head is immobile. “If his whole body rotated, the universe would end instantly,” the men said."
Manuscrito de Huarochirí, Capítulo 22