Editing Viracocha

{{Short description|Creator deity in Inca mythology}}
{{About|the Andean deity|other uses|Wiraqucha (disambiguation){{!}}Wiraqucha (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
'''Viracocha''' (also '''Wiraqocha''', '''Huiracocha'''; [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] '''Wiraqucha''') is the [[creator deity|creator]] and [[supreme deity]] in the pre-Inca and [[Inca mythology]] in the [[Andes]] region of South America. According to the myth Viracocha had human appearance<ref>Mathieu Viau-Courville: ''Spatial configuration in Tiwanaku art. A review of stone carved imagery and staff gods'' Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2014), p. 15–16</ref> and was generally considered as bearded.<ref>[[Alphons Stübel]], [[Max Uhle]]: ''Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Studie auf Grund selbständiger Aufnahmen.'' Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892, Zweiter Teil, p.&nbsp;58 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/stuebel_uhle1892/0212/image,info digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de]).</ref> According to the myth he ordered the construction of [[Tiwanaku]].<ref>[[Alphons Stübel]], [[Max Uhle]]: ''Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Studie auf Grund selbständiger Aufnahmen.'' Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892, Zweiter Teil, p.&nbsp;57 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/stuebel_uhle1892/0212/image,info digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de]).</ref> It is also said that he was accompanied by men also referred to as Viracochas.

It is often referred to with several [[Epithet|epithets]]. Such compound names include '''Ticsi Viracocha''' (''T'iqsi Wiraqocha''), '''Contiti Viracocha''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Itier |first=César |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/837631534 |title=Viracocha o el océano: naturaleza y funciones de una divinidad inca |date=2013 |publisher=IFEA Institutos Francés de Estudios Andinos, UMIFRE 17, CNRS/MAE : IEP Instituto de Estudios Peruanos |isbn=978-9972-623-78-3 |edition=Primera edición |series=Colección Mínima |location=Lima, Perú |oclc=837631534}}. 'Bajo este nombre [i.e. ⟨Tecsi Viracochan⟩] o el de ⟨ticci viracocha⟩ lo conocen también Polo [Ondegardo](1990, pp. 265, 266), Huaman Poma (1936, p. 911) y [Bernabé] Cobo (1956, p. 155, L. XIII, cap. IV). En un trabajo que está por salir, Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino ha mostrado que el epíteto ⟨ticci⟩ no fue el mismo elemento que aparece dentro del compuesto ⟨Contiti⟩ (Betanzos), ⟨Conditi⟩ o ⟨Condici⟩ (Las Casas, 1967, pt. I, p. 659), también epíteto de Viracocha.' (p. 49) Translation: 'It is known by the same name [of ⟨Tecsi Viracochan⟩] or the one of ⟨ticci viracocha⟩ by Polo [Ondegardo] (1990, pp. 265, 266), by Guaman Poma (1936, p. 911), and by [Bernabé] Cobo (1956, p. 155, book XIII, chap. IV). In a piece that is about to be published, Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino has proven that the ⟨ticci⟩ epithet is not the same formative that appears within the compound ⟨Contiti⟩ (Betanzos), ⟨Conditi⟩, or ⟨Condici⟩ (Las Casas, 1967, part. I, p. 659), which is also an epithet for Viracocha'.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cerrón Palomino |first=Rodolfo |url=https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/15064 |title=Las lenguas de los incas: el puquina, el aimara y el quechua |date=2013 |publisher=Peter Lang D |isbn=978-3-653-02485-2 |pages=133–155 |chapter=Contiti: divinidad suprema de origen lacustre |doi=10.3726/978-3-653-02485-2}}</ref> and, occasionally, ''Kon-Tiki Viracocha''{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} (the source of the name of [[Kon-Tiki|Thor Heyerdahl's raft]]). Other designations are "the creator", '''Viracochan Pachayachicachan''',<ref>[[Alphons Stübel]], [[Max Uhle]]: ''Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Studie auf Grund selbständiger Aufnahmen.'' Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892, Zweiter Teil, p.&nbsp;55 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/stuebel_uhle1892/0212/image,info digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de]).</ref> '''Viracocha Pachayachachi'''<ref>Mathieu Viau-Courville: ''Spatial configuration in Tiwanaku art. A review of stone carved imagery and staff gods'' Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2014), p. 16</ref> or '''Pachayachachic''' ("teacher of the world").<ref>[[Alphons Stübel]], [[Max Uhle]]: ''Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Studie auf Grund selbständiger Aufnahmen.'' Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892, Zweiter Teil, p.&nbsp;55 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/stuebel_uhle1892/0212/image,info digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de]).</ref>

For the [[Inca]] the Viracocha cult was more important than the sun cult.<ref>[[Alphons Stübel]], [[Max Uhle]]: ''Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Studie auf Grund selbständiger Aufnahmen.'' Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892, Zweiter Teil, p.&nbsp;56 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/stuebel_uhle1892/0212/image,info digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de]).</ref> Viracocha was the most important deity in the Inca pantheon<ref>Jean-Pierre Protzen: ''Inca Architecture and Construction at Ollantaytambo.'' Oxford University Press, New York 1993, p.&nbsp;8.</ref> and seen as the creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created, and intimately associated with the sea.<ref name=Dover>{{cite book
|title= Andean cosmologies through time: persistence and emergence. Caribbean and Latin American studies
|last= Dover|first= Robert V. H. |author2=Katharine E. Seibold |author3=John Holmes McDowell
 |year=1992|publisher= Indiana University Press|isbn= 0-253-31815-7|pages= 274
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=V9kXAAAAYAAJ|access-date=22 November 2009}}:56</ref> Viracocha was immediately followed by [[Inti]], the Sun.<ref>Jean-Pierre Protzen: ''Inca Architecture and Construction at Ollantaytambo.'' Oxford University Press, New York 1993, p.&nbsp;8.</ref>

Viracocha created the universe, sun, moon, and stars, time (by commanding the sun to move over the sky)<ref name="Young-Sánchez">{{cite book
|title= Tiwanaku: Papers from the 2005 Mayer Center Symposium at the Denver Art Museum
|last= Young-Sánchez |first= Margaret |year=2009 |publisher= Denver Art Museum|isbn= 978-0-8061-9972-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RonjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> and civilization itself.  Viracocha was worshipped as god of the [[sun god|sun]] and of storms.

So-called [[Staff God]]s do not all necessarily fit well with the Viracocha interpretation.<ref>Mathieu Viau-Courville: ''Spatial configuration in Tiwanaku art. A review of stone carved imagery and staff gods'' Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2014), p. 18</ref>

==Cosmogony according to Spanish accounts==
According to a myth recorded by [[Juan de Betanzos]],<ref>[http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/ancient_religion/pages/viracocha.html Alan Kolata, ''Valley of the Spirits: a Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara''] (1996), pages 65–72</ref> Viracocha rose from Lake [[Titicaca]] (or sometimes the cave of [[Paqariq Tampu]]) during the time of darkness to bring forth light.<ref name="Nature Myths">{{cite book|last=Andrews|first=Tamra |title=Dictionary of Nature Myths|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|pages=216|isbn=0-19-513677-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jS65aClvFEC&pg=PA216}}</ref> He made the sun, moon, and the stars. He made mankind by breathing into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So, he destroyed them with a flood and made humans, beings who were better than the giants, from smaller stones. After creating them, they were scattered all over the world.<ref name="Bloomsbury">{{cite web|url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/2121372|title=Viracocha|year=1996|work=Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd., London|access-date=2009-02-10}}</ref>

Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. Many, however, refused to follow his teachings, devolving into warfare and delinquency; Viracocha wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created.<ref name="Bloomsbury"/> It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble. [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]] wrote that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an [[alb]] secured round the waist and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands."<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/inca/inca01.htm "Viracocha and the Coming of the Incas"] from ''History of the Incas,'' by Pedro Sarmiento De Gamboa, translated by Clements Markham, Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society 1907, pp. 28–58.</ref>

In one legend he had one son, [[Inti]], and two daughters, [[Mama Killa]] and [[Pachamama]]. In this legend, he destroyed the people around Lake Titicaca with a [[Deluge (mythology)|Great Flood]] called ''[[Unu Pachakuti]]'', lasting 60 days and 60 nights, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world. These two beings are [[Manco Cápac]], the son of Inti (sometimes taken as the son of Viracocha), which name means "splendid foundation", and [[Mama Ocllo|Mama Uqllu]], which means "mother fertility".  These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called 'tapac-yauri'. In another legend, he fathered the first eight civilized human beings. In some stories, he has a wife called [[Mama Qucha]].{{CN|date=March 2023}}

In another legend,<ref name="first nation">{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpeople.us/glossary/native-american-gods-south-america-inca.html|title=Glossary, Inca Gods|publisher=First People of America and Canada – Turtle Island|access-date=2009-02-10}}</ref> Viracocha had two sons, Imahmana Viracocha and Tocapo Viracocha. After the Great Flood and the Creation, Viracocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the northeast and northwest to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Viracocha traveled North. During their journey, Imaymana and Tocapo gave names to all the trees, flowers, fruits, and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous. Eventually, Viracocha, Tocapo and Imahmana arrived at Cusco (in modern-day Peru) and the Pacific seacoast, where they walked away across the water until they disappeared. The word "Viracocha" literally means "Sea Foam."<ref name="first nation" />

==Etymology==
''Tiqsi Huiracocha'' (Spanish:''Ticsi Viracocha'') may have several meanings.  In the [[Quechuan languages]], ''tiqsi'' means "origin" or "beginning", ''wira'' means fat, and ''qucha'' means lake, sea, or reservoir.<ref>Teofilo Laime Acopa, Diccionario Bilingüe, Iskay simipi yuyay k'ancha, Quechua – Castellano, Castellano – Quechua</ref>
Viracocha's many epithets include ''great'', ''all knowing'', ''powerful'', etc.
Some people state that ''Wiraqucha'' could mean ''"Fat (or foam) of the sea"'',<ref name=Dover/><ref name=Damian>{{cite book
|title= Popular art and social change in the retablos of Nicario Jiménez Quispe
|last= Damian |first= Carol |author2=Steve Stein |author3=Nicario Jiménez Quispe
 |year=2004 |publisher= Edwin Mellen Press|isbn= 0-7734-6217-1|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=U15dAAAAMAAJ|access-date=22 November 2009}}</ref> etymology that has been discarded for grammatical considerations (constituent order in [[Quechua language|Quechua]]) at least since [[Inca Garcilaso]]. According to German archeologist [[Max Uhle]], "foam lake" is an incomprehensible name. He points out that ''Vira'' (''Huira'') can also be derived from the Quechua word ''huyra'' ("the end of all things"), and that ''Ticsi Viracocha'' therefore could have the meaning "lake of origin and of the end of all things".<ref>Alfons Stübel, Max Uhle: ''Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Perú: Eine kulturgeschichtliche Studie auf Grund selbständiger Aufnahmen.'' Hiersemann, Leipzig 1892, Zweiter Teil, p.&nbsp;55 ([https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/stuebel_uhle1892/0212/image,info digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de]).</ref>

Some linguists think that linguistic, historical and archaeological evidence suggest that the name could be a borrowing of Aymara ''Wila Quta'' (''wila'' "blood"; ''quta'' "lake"), due to the sacrifices of [[camelid]]s that were celebrated at Lake Titiqaqa by pre-Incan Andean cultures that spoke Aymara.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cerrón Palomino |first=Rodolfo |url=https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/15064 |title=Las lenguas de los incas: el puquina, el aimara y el quechua |date=2013 |publisher=Peter Lang D |isbn=978-3-653-02485-2 |pages=279–293 |chapter=Viracocha: quechuización de una metonimia aimara |doi=10.3726/978-3-653-02485-2}}</ref>

==Controversy over "White God"==
{{Further|Criollo people#Spanish colonial caste system}}
The first Spanish chroniclers from the 16th century made no mention of any identification with Viracocha. The first to do so was [[Pedro Cieza de León]] in 1553.<ref>''Colonial Spanish America: a documentary history'', Kenneth R. Mills, Rowman & Littlefield, 1998, p. 39.</ref> Similar accounts by Spanish chroniclers (e.g. [[Juan de Betanzos]]) describe Viracocha as a "white god", often with a beard.<ref>''Pre-Columbian America: Myths and Legends'', Donald. A. Mackenzie, Senate, 1996, p.268-270</ref> The whiteness of Viracocha is however not mentioned in the native authentic legends of the Incas and most modern scholars therefore had considered the "white god" story to be a post-conquest Spanish invention.<ref>Mills, 1998, p. 40.</ref>

[[File:MocheBeardedMen.jpg|right|thumb|Moche ceramic vessels depicting bearded men]]
Similarly to the [[Inca Empire|Incan]] god Viracocha, the [[Aztec]] god [[Quetzalcoatl]] and several other deities from Central and South American pantheons, like the [[Muisca people|Muisca]] god [[Bochica]] are described in legends as being bearded.<ref name="Siemens, William L 1979">Siemens, William L. "Viracocha as God and Hero in the Comentarios Reales." Hispanic Review 47, no. 3 (1979): 327–38. doi:10.2307/472790.</ref> The beard, once believed to be a mark of a prehistoric European influence and quickly fueled and embellished by spirits of the colonial era, had its single significance in the continentally insular culture of Mesoamerica. The ''Anales de Cuauhtitlan'' is a very important early source which is particularly valuable for having been originally written in Nahuatl. The ''Anales de Cuauhtitlan'' describes the attire of Quetzalcoatl at Tula:
{{Blockquote|Immediately he made him his green mask; he took red color with which he made the lips russet; he took yellow to make the facade; and he made the fangs; continuing, he made his beard of feathers...<ref>Anales de Cuauhtitlan., 1975, 9.)</ref>}}

In this quote the beard is represented as a dressing of feathers, fitting comfortably with academic impressions of Mesoamerican art. The story, however, does not mention whether Quetzalcoatl had facial hair or not with the point of outfitting him with a mask and symbolic feathered beard being to cover his unsightly appearance because as Quetzalcoatl said "If ever my subjects were to see me, they would run away!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/nahuatl/ReadingQuetzalcoatl.html|title = Readings in Classical Nahuatl: The Death of Quetzalcoatl}}</ref>

While descriptions of Viracocha's physical appearance are open to interpretation, men with beards were frequently depicted by the Peruvian [[Moche culture]] in its famous pottery, long before the arrival of the Spanish.<ref>[http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/30203/Portrait_Vase_of_Bearded_Figure_Black Portrait Vase of Bearded Figure], Brooklyn Museum</ref> Modern advocates of theories such as a [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories|pre-Columbian European migration]] to Peru cite these bearded ceramics and Viracocha's beard as being evidence for an early presence of non-Amerindians in Peru.<ref>''In Quest of the Great White Gods'', Robert F. Marx, Crown Publishers, 1992 pp. 7–15.</ref> Although most Indians do not have heavy beards, there are groups reported to have included bearded individuals, such as the [[Aché people]] of [[Paraguay]], who also have light skin but who are not known to have any admixture with Europeans and Africans.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hill|first=Kim|title=Aché life history: the ecology and demography of a foraging people|year=1996|publisher=Aldine Transaction|isbn=978-0-202-02036-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_2ZQUncZuosC&q=light+skin|author2=A. Magdalena Hurtado |access-date=31 May 2011|page=58}}</ref> When the [[Southern Paiute]] were first contacted by Europeans in 1776, the report by fathers [[Silvestre Vélez de Escalante]] and [[Francisco Atanasio Domínguez]] noted that "Some of the men had thick beards and were thought to look more in appearance like Spanish men than native Americans".<ref name=DEJ>{{cite web|title=Dominquez and Escalante Expedition, 1776 |url=http://www.uintahbasintah.org/jdandemain.htm |publisher=UintahBasintah.org |access-date=2010-11-16}} cites: {{Citation |first1=A|last1=Chavez |last2=Waner |first2=T |year=1995 |title=The Dominguez and Escalante Journal|publisher=University of Utah Press |location=Salt Lake City}}|pages=187–193</ref>

== Rock formation at Ollantaytambo==
[[File:Ollantaytambo, Tunupa monument.jpg|thumb|upright|Rock formation said to resemble a face in stone of Wiracochan or Tunupa at [[Ollantaytambo]]]]
A rock formation in the small village of [[Ollantaytambo]] in southern Peru is said by local legend to be a naturally formed or carved representation of the messenger of Viracocha named Wiracochan or Tunupa. Ollantaytambo, located in the [[Cusco Region]], makes up a chain of small villages along the Urubamba Valley. Known as the [[Sacred Valley]], it was an important stronghold of the [[Inca Empire]]. Facing the ancient Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo in the rock face of ''Cerro Pinkuylluna'' is the 140-metre-high formation said to be a figure of Wiracochan. Inca ruins built on top of the face are also considered to represent a crown on his head. Artists' impressions of the rock face also include a heavy beard and a large sack upon his shoulders. This legend became fashionable after a 1995 book by Fernando and Edgar Elorrieta Salazar.<ref name="Frost 2018 p. ">{{cite book | last=Frost | first=Peter | title=Exploring Cusco: The Classic Guide to Cusco, Machu Picchu and Peru's Most Famous Region | publisher=Nuevas Imágenes | year=2018 | isbn=978-612-00-3072-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXgnvwEACAAJ | edition=6}}</ref><ref name="fertur">{{cite web |title=Is that the Inca Creator God you see in the cliffs overlooking Ollantaytambo? |url=https://www.fertur-travel.com/blog/2018/is-that-the-inca-creator-god-you-see-in-the-cliffs-overlooking-ollantaytambo/13732/ |first=Rick |last=Vecchio |date=11 October 2018 |publisher=Fertur Peru Travel |accessdate=2024-03-28}}</ref>

Wiracochan, the pilgrim preacher of knowledge, the master of time, is described as a person with superhuman power—a bearded, tall man dressed as a priest or astronomer.

==Conversion to Christianity==

Spanish scholars and chroniclers provide many insights regarding the identity of Viracocha.

# [[Bartolomé de las Casas]] states that viracocha means "creator of all things"<ref name="Itier">Itier, César. ''Viracocha o El Océano: Naturaleza y Funciones De Una Divinidad Inca''. Lima: IFEA; IEP, 2012. Print.</ref>
# [[Juan de Betanzos]] confirms the above in saying that "We may say that Viracocha is God"<ref name="Betanzos">Betanzos, Juan de, María del Carmen Martín Rubio, and Digitalia (Firm). ''[http://www.classicly.com/library <nowiki>Suma y narración De Los Incas [Electronic Resource]</nowiki>] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503220044/http://www.classicly.com/library |date=3 May 2016 }}''.Web.</ref>  
# Polo, [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa|Sarmiento de Gamboa]], [[Blas Valera]] and Acosta all reference Viracocha as a creator<ref name="Itier" />
# [[Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala|Guamán Poma]], an indigenous chronicler, considers the term "viracocha" to be equivalent to "creator"<ref name="Poma">Guamán Poma de Ayala, Felipe, and Franklin Pease G. Y. ''Nueva crónica y Buen Gobierno;''. Lima,: Casa de la Cultura del Perú, 1969. Web.</ref>

Spanish interpreters generally attributed the identity of supreme creator to Viracocha during the initial years of colonization.<ref name="Itier" />

The decision to use the term "God" in place of "Viracocha" is seen as the first step in the evangelization of the Incas.<ref name="Itier" /> The reasoning behind this strategy includes the fact that it was likely difficult to explain the Christian idea of "God" to the Incas, who failed to understand the concept. In addition, replacing reference to Viracocha with "God" facilitated the substitution of the local concept of divinity with Christian theology.<ref name="Itier" />

==See also==
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Viracocha}}
{{Commons category|Viracocha}}
* The Colombian myth of [[Bochica]] who has a similar role as creator and civilizer as Viracocha
* [[Moche culture]]
* [[Staff God]]
* [[Tiwanaku]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Inca Empire topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aymara gods]]
[[Category:Creation myths]]
[[Category:Creator gods]]
[[Category:Inca gods]]
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]