Pachacamac or Pacha KamaqTraditional spelling in Spanish is ⟨Pachacamac⟩ or ⟨Pachacámac⟩. This was also the way it was written in Quechua before its spelling reform. ⟨Pacha Kamaq⟩ corresponds to contemporary Quechua orthography. () is the creator god and animator of the entire universe. Likewise, he was the one who controlled the balance in the world.
Like other Andean gods, Pachacamac is a god with multiple attributes. Among these attributes are fire, the sky, night, earth, earthquakes, etc.
The god Pachacamac enjoyed high prestige on the central coast of the Inca Empire and his influence was such that he was commonly considered a re-edition of the god Viracocha.
The sacred Quechua song called Yayallay is an ancient religious hymn of Inca origin that was transcribed by Blas Valera. In this song, a young Inca student at the yachahuasi, a school for the nobility, asks the three gods Illapa, Inti, and Pachacamac for many children of his royal blood (Valera 1618:c.5v), but at the same time affirms that Pachacamac has neither beginning nor end; he also addresses Pachamama, whom these gods impregnate.
Tahuantinsuyu adopted Pacha Kamaq when they incorporated the Ichma into their empire. In late Inca mythology he was the father of Inti and Mama Killa, and husband of Mama Pacha.Matthews-Salazar, Patricia. (2006)"Becoming All Indian: Gauchos, Pachamama Queens, and Tourists in the Remaking of an Andean Festival." Festivals, Toursism and Social Change: Remaking Worlds. Ed. David Picard and Mike Robinson. N.p.: Channel View Publications. 71-81. Print. The Wari, the Pachacamac empire, Chancay, Chimor and Ichma possessed the city of Pachacamac at some point but it is unknown if any other peoples, apart from the Ichma, worshipped the Pacha Kamaq deity.
Likewise, Pachacamac was considered "the creator" in the cultures of Lima, Chancay, Ichma, Huari and Chincha.
Etymology The name of the god Pachacámac, often written simply as <Pachacama> in 16th-century sources, is entirely Quechua in origin. It is a nominalized verbal phrase, based on the noun pacha (“earth, world, space, time, universe, totality, era”) and the verb kamay (“to sustain, to create, to animate”), together with the agent nominalizer -q.
The relative phrase thus formed poses some translation problems, as it can be translated as “he who creates the world” or “he who sustains the universe,” among others.
Concept Some sources considered Pachacámac to be a god who, similar to his counterpart Viracocha, was invisible and unknown, since no one had ever seen him. This description portrays the god Pachacámac in the same way as his counterpart: an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient god. However, for some scholars, the above description belongs more to a universal principle (an abstract and impersonal concept) than to a god himself.
Among the aforementioned sources is that provided by the famous chronicler Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. In his work Royal Commentaries, Garcilaso describes Pachacámac as follows:"They held Pachacámac in greater inner veneration than the Sun, which, as I have said, they did not dare to mention by name, whereas they named the Sun at every turn. When asked who Pachacámac was, they said that he was the one who gave life to the universe and sustained it, but that they did not know him because they had not seen him, and that for this reason they did not build temples or offer sacrifices to him, but rather worshipped him in their hearts (that is, mentally) and considered him an unknown God."
(«Tuvieron al Pachacámac en mayor veneración interior que al Sol, que, como he dicho, no osaban tomar su nombre en la boca, y al Sol le nombran a cada paso. Preguntado quién era el Pachacámac, decían que era el que daba vida al universo y le sustentaba, pero que no le conocían porque no le habían visto, y que por esto no le hacían templos ni le ofrecían sacrificios, mas que lo adoraban en su corazón (esto es mentalmente) y le tenían por Dios no conocido.»)Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Capítulo IIHowever, Garcilaso's description seems to refer more to how the nobility perceived the figure of Pachacámac than to the population of Tahuantinsuyo in general.
The chronicler also mentions that the Incas, like other cultures, came to question the supremacy of their main god, in this case, the Sun.
The same source mentions that the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, questioning the hegemony of the sun, is said to have said the following:"Many say that the Sun lives and is the maker of all things; it is fitting that he who does something should attend to the thing he does, but many things are done while the Sun is absent; therefore, it is not the creator of all things; and that it is not alive can be deduced from the fact that it never tires of turning: if it were alive, it would tire like us, or if it were free, it would visit other parts of the sky, where it never goes. It is like a tethered animal, always circling in the same place; or like an arrow that goes where it is sent and not where it would like to go."
(«Muchos dicen que el Sol vive y que es el hacedor de todas las cosas; conviene que el que hace alguna cosa asista a la cosa que hace, pero muchas cosas se hacen estando el Sol ausente; luego, no es el hacedor de todas las cosas; y que no vive se colige de que dando siempre vueltas no se cansa: si fuera cosa viva se cansara como nosotros, o si fuera libre llegara a visitar otras partes del cielo, a donde nunca jamás llega. Es como una res (llama) atada, que siempre hace un mismo cerco; o es como la saeta que va donde la envían y no donde ella querría»)Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Capítulo VIIIContinuing with the source, Inca Huayna Capac also expressed such doubts about the hegemony of the sun cult. While Huayna Capac was talking to a priest, the Inca said to him:"I want to ask you two questions in response to what you have told me. I am your King and universal lord. Would any of you be so bold as to order me to rise from my seat and travel a long way?
The priest replied, “Who would be so foolish as to do that?”
The Inca replied, “And would there be any curaca among my vassals, however rich and powerful he might be, who would not obey me if I ordered him to go by post from here to Chili?”
The priest said, “No, Inca, there would be no one who would not obey you to the death in everything you commanded him.”
The Inca then said: “Well, I tell you that Our Father the Sun must have another lord greater and more powerful than himself. He commands him to travel this path that he travels every day without stopping, because if he were the Supreme Lord, he would stop walking from time to time and rest at his leisure, even if he had no need to do so.”"
(«Quiero hacerte dos preguntas para responder a lo que me has dicho. Yo soy vuestro Rey y señor universal, ¿habría alguno de vosotros tan atrevido que por su gusto me mandase levantar de mi asiento y hacer un largo camino?
Respondió el sacerdote: «¿Quién habría tan desatinado como eso?».
Replicó el Inca: «¿Y habría algún curaca de mis vasallos, por más rico y poderoso que fuese, que no me obedeciese si yo le mandase ir por la posta de aquí a Chili?».
Dijo el sacerdote: «No, Inca, no habría alguno que no lo obedeciese hasta la muerte todo lo que le mandases». El Inca dijo entonces: «Pues yo te digo que este Nuestro Padre el Sol debe de tener otro mayor señor y más poderoso que no él. El cual le manda hacer este camino que cada día hace sin parar, porque si él fuera el Supremo Señor, una vez que otra dejara de caminar, y descansara por su gusto, aunque no tuviera necesidad alguna».) Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Capítulo X
Features
Ychsma renamed Pachacamac Before being incorporated into the Inca pantheon, Pachacámac was known by the names Ychsma, Ichma, or Irma. The link between the coastal deity and the Tahuantinsuyo was established diplomatically by the Inca Tupac Yupanqui.
The historian Hernando de Santillán emphasizes this relationship in his work Relación del origen, descendencia, política y gobierno de los Incas (Account of the Origin, Descent, Politics, and Government of the Incas). In this work, the historian mentions the following:"The worship of guacas, [...] is a modern introduction by Topa Inga, and they say that the origin of worshipping guacas and tenellas as gods arose because when Topa Inga's mother was pregnant with him, she spoke from her womb and said that the Maker of the Earth was in the Yungas, in the Irma Valley. After a long time, when Topa Inga was already a man and a lord, his mother told him what had happened, and once he knew, he decided to go and find the Maker of the Earth in the valley of Irma, which is now called Pachacama, and there he spent many days in prayer and fasted many times. and after forty days, Pachacama spoke to him, saying that he was the Maker of the Earth, and told him that he was very happy to have found him, and that he was the one who gave life to all things below, and that the Sun was his brother and gave life to those above [...] The guaca told them through the stone from which he spoke that [...] they should build him a house. Then the Inca had it built in his presence, and it is a building that still stands today, tall and sumptuous, which they call the great guaca of Pachacama, on a large mound of earth that seems almost entirely man-made, with the building on top of it; and there the guaca told the Inca that his name was Pachacama, which means the one who gives life to the Earth; and so the name of the valley was changed from Irma to Pachacama."
(«La adoración de las guacas, […] es moderna introducción por Topa Inga, y dicen que el origen del adorar las guacas y tenellas por dios, nascio de que estando la madre de dicho Topa Inga prenada del, hablo en el vientre y dijo quel Hacedor de la Tierra estaba en los yungas, en el valle de Irma. Despues de mucho tiempo, siendo ya hombre y senor el dicho Topa Inga, la madre le dijo lo que pasaba, y sabido por él, determino de ir a buscar el Hacedor de la Tierra al dicho valle de Irma, que es el que agora se dice Pachacama, y alli estuvo muchos días en oración y hizo muchos ayunos, y al cabo de cuarenta dias le hablo el Pachacama, quellos disen era Hacedor de la Tierra, y le dijo que habia sido muy dichoso en hallarle, y quel era el que daba ser a todas las cosas de aca abajo y quel Sol era su hermano y daba ser a lo de arriba […] la guaca les dijo por aquella piedra en que los hablaba, que […] le edificasen una casa. Luego el Inga la hizo edificar en su presencia, que es un edificio que hoy está en pie, de grande altura y suntuosidad, a que llaman la grande guaca de Pachacama, sobre un grande monte de tierra que casi todo parece hecho a mano y encima el edificio; y allí le dijo la guaca al Inga que su nombre era Pachacama, que quiere decir el que da ser a la Tierra; y así se mudó el nombre del dicho valle de Irma y le quedo Pachacama.»)
Relación del origen, descendencia, política y gobierno de los Incas (1563)
The true idol of Pachacamac According to Hernando Pizarro, brother of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who wrote an account of his visit to Pachacámac, the idol was destroyed and its treasure captured to be taken to Cajamarca.
In his "Carta a los magníficos señores oidores de la audiencia real de Santo Domingo sobre la conquista del Perú (1533)", he states that:"The cave where the idol was kept was very dark, so dark that it was impossible to enter without a torch, and very dirty inside. I made all the chiefs of the region who had come to see me go inside so that they would lose their fear; and in the absence of a preacher, I gave them my sermon, telling them about the deception in which they were living."