Apurímac is a department in southern-central Peru. It is bordered on the east by the Department of Cusco, on the west by the Department of Ayacucho, and on the south by the Arequipa and Ayacucho departments. The department's name originates from the Quechua language and means "where the gods speak" in reference to the many mountains of the region that seem to be talking to each other.
Cusco, also spelled Cuzco, is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de Dios and Puno on the east; Arequipa on the south; and Apurímac, Ayacucho and Junín on the west. Its capital is Cusco, the historical capital of the Inca Empire.
Jauja is a city and capital of Jauja Province in Peru. It is situated in the fertile Mantaro Valley, 45 kilometres (28 mi) to the northwest of Huancayo, at an altitude of 3,400 metres (11,200 ft). Its population in 2015 was 15,432.
Calca Province is one of thirteen provinces in the Cusco Region in the southern highlands of Peru. Its seat is Calca.
Paucartambo Province is one of thirteen provinces in the Cusco Region in the southern highlands of Peru.
Quyllurit'i or Qoyllur Rit'i is a syncretic religious festival held annually at the Sinakara Valley in the southern highlands Cusco Region of Peru. Local indigenous people of the Andes know this festival as a native celebration of the stars. In particular they celebrate the reappearance of the Pleiades constellation, known in Quechua as Qullqa, or "storehouse," and associated with the upcoming harvest and New Year. The Pleiades disappears from view in April and reappears in June. The new year is marked by indigenous people of the Southern Hemisphere on the Winter Solstice in June, and it is also a Catholic festival. The people have celebrated this period of time for hundreds if not thousands of years. The pilgrimage and associated festival was inscribed in 2011 on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
Coya District is one of eight districts of the Calca Province in the Cusco Region of Peru.
Paucartambo is one of six districts of the Paucartambo Province in Peru.
Paucartambo is a town in Southern Peru, capital of the province Paucartambo in the region Cusco. Paucartambo is home to the colourful Virgen del Carmen festival, held each 16 July. Paucartambo's three-day Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen is one of the biggest street parties in Peru, and attracts tens of thousands of travellers, almost all Peruvian, each year.
Chukchu is the name of a festival and a satirical dance of the Andes region in Peru. The festival is held annually on August 25 in the Santo Tomás District of the Chumbivilcas Province in the Cusco Region. The dance is performed on festivals dedicated to the patron saints (fiestas patronales) of communities in the provinces of Anta, Canchi, Chumbivilcas, La Convención and Paucartambo. The figures represented in the dance are sick persons, nurses, doctors, assistants and mosquitos. Members of the Chukchu troup may wear sickly masks, that represent plantation house slaves who became infected with malaria in the jungle. Their choreography includes throwing flour on crowd in imitation of the spread of disease.
Siklla, Wayra (Quechua) or Doctorcitos is a satirical folk dance in Bolivia and Peru. The dance is a mockery of the Spanish lawyers of the colonial period.
Qhapaq Qulla is a folk dance in Peru. It is performed at festivals of the Cusco Region, such as Mamacha Carmen in Paucartambo and the important Quyllur Rit'i at the Winter Solstice on the mountain Qullqipunku.
Ch'unchu is a folk dance in Peru. It is performed on festivals of the Cusco Region like Mamacha Carmen in Paucartambo and Quyllur Rit'i. Varieties include q'ara ch'unchu, qhapaq ch'unchu and wayri ch'unchu. Its name comes from a derogatory Quechua word for native inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest.
Saqra is a traditional dance in the highlands of the Cusco Region in Peru. The dancers dress as animal figures. This traditional dance has its origins in the late 19th century in the province of Paucartambo, Cusco and was inspired by the sacred paintings of the so called “Mamacha Carmen” also known as the "Virgen del Carmen". Saqra means roguery, restlessness, agility or mischief in English.
Tauja is a 4,039.8-metre-high (13,254 ft) mountain in the Cusco Region in Peru. It is situated in the Calca Province, San Salvador District, and in the Paucartambo Province, Caicay District, northeast of Huaypun. The Vilcanota River flows around its southern and western slopes. In the east the mountain is bordered by the Huancamayo. It is a right tributary of the Vilcanota River. The confluence is south of the mountain.
Qhiwar is a mountain in the Cusco Region in Peru, about 4,400 metres (14,436 ft) high. It is situated in the Calca Province, San Salvador District. Qhiwar lies between Hatun Punta in the east and Wallwa Qhata in the southwest.
P'unquchayuq is a mountain in the Cusco Region in Peru, about 4,400 metres (14,436 ft) high. It is situated in the Calca Province, San Salvador District, and in the Paucartambo Province, Caicay District. P'unquchayuq lies south of Hatun Punta and southeast of Qhiwar.
Qhapaq Kancha is an archaeological site in Peru of the Inca period on top of a mountain of the same name. It is located in the Cusco Region, Calca Province, Coya District.
Victoriano Arizapana Huayhua is a Quechua master rope bridge engineer, notable for being the lead builder of the Q'iswa Chaka, which is the last remaining traditionally built Inca rope bridge and a part of the historical Qhapaq Ñan Inca road network. He is also a teacher and cultural figure, preserving and transmitting to future generations the bridgebuilding techniques passed to him by his ancestors.
Odi Gonzales is a Peruvian writer, translator and university professor. His literary works are written in Quechua and Spanish.
