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Qoyllur Rit'i:
In Search of the Lord of the Snow Star

This webs ite documents a photo exhibit by Peruvian photographer
Vicente Revilla he ld at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the Univers ity of
Mas s achus etts in Amhers t during Latino Heritage Month, October
1999. The fes tival of Señor Qoyllur de Rit'i takes place annually high in
the Southern Andes of Peru, 16,000 feet above s ea leve l.
Mr. Revilla made a pres entation on October 12, e l Día de la Raza, which
was co-s pons ored by the UMas s Amhers t Libraries , the Department of
Anthropology, and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and
Latino Studies in obs ervance of Latino Heritage Month. The program
was coordinated by Is abel Es pinal, Outreach Librarian, W.E.B. Du Bois
Library.
This online vers ion of the exhibit was created by
Pris c illa Higuera, John Raible , Is abe l Es pinal and Jeff Be lizaire .

Qoyllur Rit’i:
In Search of the Lord of the Snow Star
by Vicente Revilla
excerpts from:

Having lived mos t of my adult life in the United States , I s till keep ins ide me an imprint o f the
native Andean lands cape . This trip, therefore , was not only a s earch for the Lord of the Snow
Star but a ques t to find mys e lf in the mountains…This trip to the mountain was , I hoped, going to
be a better experience for all of us than the one in 1995 when we almos t froze to death, or in1998
when our car came c los e to tumbling off the c liffs ide…
I s imply intended to find the lord ice (photograph it) and perhaps get a better unders tanding of
mys e lf in the proces s . Qoyllur Rit'I is s omehow bound up with who I am as a pers on, with be ing
free… My ances tors lived in thes e mountains for thous ands of years . I didn't have to jus tify my
pilgrimage to the mountain.


Ukukos are a kind of pagan
pries ts , s emigods who play
various roles during the fes tival-
c lowns , dancers , comedians ,
cooks , mus ic ians , s ingers -even
policemen, if
need be . Ukukos travel to the
fes tivity as part of a group (a
nation as they define thems elves )
or cofradia (a brotherhood)… To
dis guis e their identity and not be
recognized, Ukukos always talk
in a fals etto voice and cover their
face with a mas k… In the middle
of the night they c limb to the top
of the g lacier to retrieve the ice
where they s ometimes fall into
crevas s es and die . It is s aid that
they are als o expected to fight
the condenados (evil) s hould
they come upon any.


When I turned around I s aw entering the cemetery a group (nation) of perhaps thirty people dres s ed in ritual
cos tumes and mas ks , danc ing and s inging. A young bare-faced woman who was danc ing with a s pec ial grace
s eemed to be the ir leader.

The road out of town is paved until you reach Urcos , a two-hour drive . In Urcos we
s topped in the open market for more bread and coca leaves . My friends and rocoto re lleno
(s tuffed peppers ) which I re luctantly dec lined becaus e I did not want to get s ick before
reaching the mountain. "On the way back I will eat more than any of you,” I s aid, while
taking pic tures of the town as we ll as o f my friends eating.

At that moment, a man came down from the mountain with a piece of ice in his hands . He looked European.
"May I take your pic ture?” I s aid, eye ing the ice he was carrying but too embarras s ed to as k him for any. He
agreed to le t me take his pic ture , and I as ked him in Englis h where he was from. "Europe ," he s aid without
be ing s pec ific about a country.
"Why", I as ked, "would s omeone like yours e lf want to obtain the ice?" It was indeed a foolis h ques tion,
ques tioning this European the way my friends had ques tioned my own re lations hip with the mountain.
He gave me a look as if not comprehending my ques tion. How about if he was terminally ill? I thought. How
about if the wonders of wes tern medic ine couldn't do much for him and the ice was his las t medical res ource?
Of cours e he had as much right as anybody to carry this mountain god. "This s acred ice means a lot to me... It
is the s pirit o f the mountain that matters , " he ye lled as he hurriedly
c limbed his way down the mountain.

I took pictures of the people pass ing by with ice in the ir hands or on the ir backs and shoulders… I
asked a young woman carrying a small chunk, "Do you think I could have some?" She pointed up a t
the glacier. "There is plenty of ice up there ." "But you see ," I s a id, "I won't be able to make it up to the
glacier. I don't fee l well enough." She handed me a piece of the s acred ice . "Here ," she sa id. "You
know, it is the blood of God."


When I awoke a few hours la te r, a t firs t the mounta in seemed to be in a s ta te of chaos . Thousands of
people were on the move. I followed those headed toward the shrine where , according to Chris tian
tradition, the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i was to be found. As I re turned to my tent, I s aw fa r in the dis tance the
Ukukos coming down the mounta in in a s ingle file . They were ca rrying in the ir backs huge chunks of the
sacred ice tha t would eventua lly arrive to the city of Cusco.


The next day, June 2nd, was La Entrada de Corpus , the day the s acred ice arrived from the mountain.
According to the tradition, mos t of the s tatues o f the s aints are carried in proces s ion to the main cathedral
or other churches in Cus co to make them ready for the s till greater proces s ion that takes place the next day,
the Feas t of the Corpus Chris ti, at the town center. I had to find the Ukukos among the crowds that were
getting ready for la entrada de los s antos .

Meanwhile , the s acred ice had arrived. As the fa ithful watched, the s a ints made the ir way toward the main ca thedra l, a t
which time the Ukukos a lso arrived with the ir own sacred burden which they a lso carried to the ca thedra l. They and the
bearers of the s ta tues danced as one as they pass ed each other on the s tree ts . Big crowds of people surrounded them.
Finally, after severa l hours of merrymaking the Ukukos la id down their blocks of ice and began chopping them into small
pieces with swords . They then proceeded to dis tribute the ice to the people .

In jus t a few minutes the sacred ice was gone. Some were left with jus t a few drops of wa ter on the ir pa lms , which they
pass ed on to those who had nothing. Others clasped the ir dwindling shards of ice as if holding on to a piece of the mounta in
its e lf, with a ll tha t means to them. The Lord of the Snow Star was vanishing for another year.



Pepo who was a ll a long with me reminded me tha t it was time to ea t and drink. "Let's go have some chiriuchu, he sa id.
Chiriuchu is a typica l Andean cold dish tha t is ea ten jus t once a year, on the Feas t of Corpus Chris ti. "Yes , of course ," I s a id,
as we headed toward tables arranged for the occas ion in the town center. There they were , Roberto, Edward, Ebert, Edi
s itting by a table and waiting for me. It was a very pagan feas t we made, ea ting, drinking, a rguing, and watching the
process ion of the sa ints . I took pictures of it a ll, and of course I took one more picture of the mounta in in the background
before getting ready to head back to tha t s trange land to the north.

The End