Quechua, usually called Runasimi in Quechuan languages, is an indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely spoken pre-Columbian language family of the Americas, with a total of probably some 8–10 million speakers. Approximately 25% of Peruvians speak a Quechuan language. It is perhaps most widely known for being the main language family of the Inca Empire. The Spaniards encouraged its use until the Peruvian struggle for independence of the 1780s. As a result, Quechua variants are still widely spoken today, being the co-official language of many regions and the second most spoken language family in Peru.
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru and, in 2017, had a population of 428,450. Its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Andean music is a group of styles of music from the Andes region in South America.
Apurímac is a department and region in southern-central Peru. It is bordered on the east by the Cusco Region, on the west by the Ayacucho Region, and on the south by the Arequipa and Ayacucho regions. The region'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.
Cuzco, also spelled Cusco, 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.
Huayno is a genre of popular Andean music and dance. It is especially common in Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina, but also present in Chile, and is practiced by a variety of ethnic groups, especially the Quechua people. The history of Huayno dates back to colonial Peru as a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music. High-pitched vocals are accompanied by a variety of instruments, including quena (flute), harp, siku (panpipe), accordion, saxophone, charango, lute, violin, guitar, and mandolin. Some elements of huayno originate in the music of the pre-Columbian Andes, especially on the territory of the former Inca Empire. Huayno utilizes a distinctive rhythm in which the first beat is stressed and followed by two short beats.
Cusco–Collao or Qusqu–Qullaw (Quechua) is a collective term used for Quechua dialects that have aspirated and ejective plosives, apparently borrowed from Aymaran languages. They include Cusco Quechua, Puno Quechua, North Bolivian Quechua, and South Bolivian Quechua. Together with Ayacucho Quechua, which is mutually intelligible, they form the Southern Quechua language.
A pinkillu, pinkuyllu or pinqullu is a flute found throughout the Andes, used primarily in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. It is usually played with one hand, leaving the other one free to accompany oneself on a drum like the tinya. It is used in a variety of public festivals and other kinds of communal ceremonies.
Southern Quechua, or simply Quechua, is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 6.9 million speakers. It is also the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Americas. The term Southern Quechua refers to the Quechuan varieties spoken in regions of the Andes south of a line roughly east–west between the cities of Huancayo and Huancavelica in central Peru. It includes the Quechua varieties spoken in the regions of Ayacucho, Cusco and Puno in Peru, in much of Bolivia and parts of north-west Argentina. The most widely spoken varieties are Cusco, Ayacucho, Puno (Collao), and South Bolivian.
Peruvian dances are primarily of native origin. There are also dances that are related to agricultural work, hunting and war. In Peru dancing bears an important cultural significance. Some choreographies show certain Christian influence.
The tarka is an indigenous flute of the Andes. Usually made of wood, it has 6 finger holes, fipple on mouth end and free hole on distant end.
Tinyahuarco is one of thirteen districts of the province Pasco Province in the Pasco Region of Peru.
Chinchero District is one of seven districts of the Urubamba Province in Peru. It is the location for the proposed Chinchero International Airport, which would serve travelers to the Cusco Region.
The aguayo, or also quepina is a rectangular carrying cloth used in traditional communities in the Andes region of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Aymara and Quechua people use it to carry small children or various other items in it on their backs. It is similar to a lliklla and sometimes regarded as a synonym.
Tarahuasi is an archaeological site in Peru. It is located in the Cusco Region, Anta Province, Limatambo District.
A lliklla is a rectangular, handwoven shoulder cloth. It is worn by Quechua women of the Andes region in Bolivia and Peru. Traditionally it is fastened at the front using a decorated pin called tupu.
Tinya palla or wiqru palla is a traditional dance of the Pomabamba Province in the Ancash Region in Peru. In 2009 the National Institute of Culture declared tinya palla a National Cultural Heritage of Peru by Resolución Directoral Nacional No. 491/INC-2009.
Wari is a traditional dance of the Ancash Region in Peru. The dancers are accompanied by musicians who play the tinya and the small pinkuyllu.
Huankarán is an archaeological site with a rectangular tower, a couple of buildings and stone tombs (chullpa) in Peru. It is situated in the Huánuco Region, Huamalíes Province, Tantamayo District.
Musician plays Pinkullo flute with one hand and drums a tinya with the other at a Huari Danza in Peru.
