Celebration in Pisac

    We were searching for a place to eat in the main plaza in the town of Pisac when we started to hear a beating drum and flute-like musical notes. It was emanating from the church a few hundred feet away, and a small crowd of people began to form. It was already dark and the rest of the plaza was barren, which caused some confusion at what was thought to be an otherwise quiet, empty town square during the late evening. Curiously, we wandered over to the church, where we found a procession of people elevating the figure of a saint over the steps of the church and out into the plaza. The saint and its procession were headed to a smaller church on the edge of the town, where dozens of people were to gather, drink, eat, and celebrate the annual event of the saint in Pisac. The beating drum and the chorus steadily followed the group carrying the saint and the dozens of people surrounding it as they walked out into the street and towards the end of the plaza. Surprised by this, we decided to follow them to the smaller church in hopes of capturing a small glimpse of the religious following in the Incan relic of the Pisac community.

    The procession led to the outside of the small church where families gathered themselves around a fire and a large clearing, where a man with a hardhat and yellow poncho with a whip began to dance and skip around for everybody to see. The musical formation sat in one of the corners, continuing to play their music as people began to fill in the surroundings. fireworks began to explode overhead as the party commenced. We eventually decided to grab dinner, but came back about an hour or so later to see what had developed from the festivities. This time, the scene was a bit different. The music had stopped, the music group was busy eating, as was everybody else. People occupied themselves with the food and drinks, taking time in between to talk and laugh with their family, friends, and other community members. Several minutes later, the music had resumed and people continued sharing moments with the community, either eating, talking, or simply just observing the scene. Meanwhile, the figure of the saint was at the open doors of the church, as if watching over the festivities.

    It was interesting to see the value that the community placed on the saint. After all, it was the entire reason they had come out to celebrate. Hadn’t it been for its celebration, there would be no motivation or desire for the community to come out and share endearing moments with one another. Catholicism appeared to be the lifeblood behind the community, a devotion formerly reserved for the religion of the Incan empire many centuries ago. Over the course of many generations, it seemed the catholic influence had left its imprint on an Incan community. The result was a combination of the two heritages that celebrated both religions and allowed the community to express themselves in a way that commemorated two vastly different faiths. I was curious to know: How had the religious mixture evolved over the course of several centuries? Was it an evolution characterized by catholic domination over that of the Incan religion? It seemed so, to an extent. How did the community of Pisac maintain any semblance of Incan influence in a practice otherwise dominated by catholic influence?