Rabbits, Aymara, Catholic prayers spotlight Bolivian pageant of abundance

La Paz, Jan 24 (EFE).- Andean rituals, Chinese language amulets and Catholic blessings marked Tuesday’s begin of Bolivia’s Alasita pageant the place 1000’s come to purchase miniature objects representing their hopes and goals for the yr.

Within the capital, lots of of artisans opened their market stalls stuffed with miniature suitcases, homes, meals, highschool or college levels and automobiles for purchasers to purchase, symbolizing their needs within the hopes they arrive true.

The ritual journeys in La Paz throughout Alasita had been inscribed by UNESCO on its consultant checklist of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2017.

The honest will run for not less than three weeks, and on Tuesday individuals got here en masse with baggage and aguayos, the multicolored indigenous materials, loaded with miniatures to be blessed.

A Catholic priest led a prayer earlier than throwing holy water over the gang and the miniatures.

On the similar time, a number of “amautas” or Aymara clever males supplied rituals of “ch’alla” or blessings of those items, with incense and “jallallas” or cheers, in order that the prayers are heard.

Among the many miniatures and fortunate charms, bunnies stood out, coinciding with the Chinese language yr of the rabbit. In recent times it has develop into customary for Bolivian artisans to supply plaster representations of the animals of the Chinese language horoscope in keeping with the corresponding yr.

There have been additionally different animals that can not be missed on the honest, corresponding to chickens, that are often given as presents to these on the lookout for a companion, and toads, thought of sacred in Andean tradition.

La Alasita, which suggests “purchase me,” is without doubt one of the oldest traditions of Andean tradition. The pageant initially celebrated the southern summer time solstice on Dec. 21, with the collectible figurines supplied to Andean deities in order that their needs would come true.

Each the pageant and its symbols have reworked over time into the present-day expression of the ancestral fused with the mestizo and concrete, which will also be seen within the determine of Ekeko, the traditional Andean deity of abundance and fortune.

In pre-Hispanic instances, what’s now referred to as Ekeko was represented by an illa or stone effigy of the god Tunupa, whereas in the course of the Colonial interval the determine seen at present emerged – a plump doll with white complexion, honest hair and rosy cheeks, loaded with items on its again.

An enormous stone Ekeko is without doubt one of the primary sights on the honest, with individuals “returning” the miniatures bought the earlier yr at its toes, to specific gratitude for needs that had been fulfilled and for the blessing of these acquired for brand spanking new wishes.

“Folks come from totally different locations to ask for what they need. We smoke to make it come true. It may be a home, work, well being or cash,” the amauta Saturnino Mamani instructed EFE.

One other smaller Ekeko stands out within the antiquities sector of the honest.

Baptized as Juanito, this Ekeko belonged to Doña Cecilia Herrera, a girl who took the effigy to the honest yearly for cleaning, a practice that’s now continued by her daughter, María Uscamayta.

“My mom served right here years in the past. She has handed away. Due to her, we go on the market and other people proceed to come back as a result of Juanito is over 30 years previous,” Uscamayta instructed EFE.

“Folks come, I cleanse them for his or her well being, work, enterprise, for a level that they need to get, or for a visit (…) In order that every thing goes effectively for them, that there are not any issues – above all, well being for the household, for examine and in order that they by no means lack cash or work, that the entire household retains shifting ahead,” she mentioned.

In response to Uscamayta, Juanito is jealous and that’s the reason he should be within the care of an individual who’s single, “and it’s a must to make him smoke on Tuesdays and Fridays in order that every thing goes effectively for you and also you by no means lack for something.”

“The essential factor is to purchase the miniatures and cleanse them with religion in order that they work,” she added. EFE

gb/tw