Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Spanish, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, (Mongolian,) Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

By the lake in the sight of my God, Beautiful Mother Earth! In the early hour… Beautiful Mother Earth!

The Charming Culture of Lake Titicaca in Puno, Peru

Puno, located over 3,800 meters above sea level, south of Peru, in the plateau of Collao, features as its main attraction the legendary Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, which is cared for by its inhabitants, both on its islands and on the areas around it along its shores.

May you have a good day, on this great day of yours. Thank you for visiting this town by Lake Titicaca, where we live near the totora reeds.

I welcome you to this town of Puno, to this sacred lake of the Incas, at 3,800 meters above sea level. We, the lake inhabitants, live very proud of our glorious legacy, our parents, the sun, our mother the moon, and our ancestors, the Incas Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, who founded this empire. We’ve been proud. I invite you to know this majestic Lake Titicaca, with its alive culture, with our islands, with our Apus, with our highest summits, with our snowcapped mountains, with everything that is preserved here on the high plain.

Their spirituality is based on a direct contact with nature, thanking the land for its products with the offering to Pachamama, Mother Earth; as well as the Apus, or mountains, which protect the people and their harvests; also the lake, the sun, the moon and the stars, in which the Paccos, beings endowed with the skill of sensing and predicting the future, forecast the weather to prevent, in many cases, floods, or in other cases to announce the abundant harvest. These persons used natural elements for the same purpose.

In the Andes world, in the communities, in the districts, Andean religiosity is still practiced, in which we show respect to the Apus, the lake, the hills, the thunder; which is a part of our cultural identity; the sun, the moon, the stars, almost every feature which is with us is venerated.

Because if there were no sun, there wouldn´t be heat, there wouldn’t be light. And if there were no moon, there wouldn´t be night, there wouldn’t be darkness, nor half-light, there wouldn´t be stars, those bits of illumination and inspiration in our communities. If there weren’t rain, we wouldn´t have sown fields; if there weren’t thunder, we wouldn´t know to store our crops; that is a part of us, it is a part of the Andean religiousness.

At Easter, for example, in the communities, districts, villages, people climb the highest mountains. That day people fast, nothing is eaten. They climb the hills to collect plants. It is believed that among us, between the entities, Catholicism and Andean religiosity, there is a fusion, where herbs become healing herbs; that cure.

For instance, chicchipa is used to make aromatic mate (a herbal infusion); cedrón is a tranquilizer for that day, to soothe pains and sorrows. And so plants from over the hills are collected, to make mate. Then, back home, people from some communities cook twelve meals, which is a blend of Andean religion and Catholic religion. Twelve dishes are eaten in the name of the Twelve Apostles.

Some of the staples of this culture are corn, quinoa, a yellow Andean tuber called ollucos, and fresh, tasty potatoes. At Lake Titicaca, agriculture is a way of life and a reason for celebrating and thanking Mother Earth.

The dances which are practiced here are related to gratitude, to productivity of the land; and in accordance with the different seasons of the planet, mainly at carnival time which is in summer, harvesting time. Used as musical accompaniment, quenas are musical instruments made out of wood, reeds or bamboo stalks, to play the most lively or festive melodies, to pay homage to the vegetables and Mother Earth.

First, we have to have great care when sowing before there is a ceremony, a kintu, in order that our sown fields produce well. Once the plant is blooming we put more soil on it. Then we take out the weeds, and then at the carnivals we honor it by dancing and singing in order that the flowers and sown fields feel happy, as we feel being in touch with them. When we start harvesting our crops, we thank the Inti father (the sun), the mother Killa (the moon). Everything which has granted us these fruits, we start thanking, and when we harvest, when we begin to select our products.

The biggest potatoes are for Tinkay, a ceremony in which we celebrate our potatoes, because they are the biggest ones Mother Earth, Pachamama, has given us. Then we choose the potatoes for cooking and the potatoes for the potato starch and the ones for the next sowing season, the seeds. Next, we store the spoiled potatoes to make potato starch, to add to potato starch. And once all this is done, crops are stored buried in the earth, with some straw to avoid the worms, for the next sowing season.

When we return, we’ll find out more about the Lake Titicacan culture of harmony with nature. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment and our visit to the friendly Peruvian people living on Lake Titicaca. The relaxed and joyful residents here have created many beautiful, colorful dances. Let’s find out more about the dances’ significance in relation to nature.

Here on the high plain, for example, we have spiritual dances, agricultural ones, festive ones, and also funeral ones. In some villages, such as the Taquile island, Amantani, Uros and Ticonata in the Capachica area, their dances are mostly about gratitude, because we live around the lake. We live in the lake, always in touch with nature. We don´t live in contact with the outer world, but with the world which is around us – nature, the plants, the animals, the water which is running near us, from the springs, in the lake itself.

Music, which is the most important thing for us... For example, if we feel mournful, we fetch the pinquillo and play nostalgic melodies. If we pick the charango, then it is cheerful music. It is a happy instrument, a carnival one. And when it comes, for example, to ceremonial times, the pinquillo is used; or also ceremonial are nomalca, cuchuijatu, los pinquillos. Big, small and medium, just like the big or small zampoña (flute). Then, we have bombos, or the tarola, percussion instruments, and a lot of instruments.

Totora Chullo Green, green is its small stalk, with a white and yellow small face, “I am very, very tasty.” The stalk is very green and tasty. When people talk to it, it answers to them, weeping, “Do not eat me yet. I have grown to give strength to children, for them to have good teeth, healthy and strong.” While still young and immature, they say, “Do not eat me yet! When my heart is ripe, I´ll be good and you´ll eat me, very tasty.” It also speaks to its mom and dad, to have a great heart. “I speak to you, because I love you, also for you to know and respect.”

We have such a beautiful lake with crystal clear water; we have reed mace, which is sweet, and we use it to make our homes in some cases, to make our traditional mattresses, also for food, the inner part of it called chullu. In this lake, we can find beautiful islands. We have lots of traditions, a lot of character at our Lake Titicaca.

Crossing it, we find at the first stop, a floating island called Uros, its name preserved through history and time; its main characteristic being buildings made of totora reeds a native Titicaca plant, as well as the boats and houses where people live. In the same way, a species of totora reed, called chullu, is consumed by the villagers for its high protein content.

They have some beautiful houses made of totora, a natural plant.

It is important to mention one of the development centers of rural tourism, Capachica, located northeast of the lake. It has lodging houses carefully designed, for a comfortable stay. Besides its eyecatching beaches that allow one to connect with the nature of the place, as well as Llachon, Cotos, Yapura, Chifron, among the most visited in the area, with their outstanding carnivals and native costumes, which are maintained throughout the year.

Well, at carnivals usually, Tuesdays are godfathers’ days, godchildren and godfathers are visited, or just friends. They visit at home and then have their abundant luncheons as is customary, and they spend the day dancing at their godfather´s house.

On Ash Wednesday, they go into town to participate in contests and bring people in the capital to the village what they call Apaycamuy carnival. So on Thursday, we start the contest here, yes, the grass cutters start. Then also on Friday they visit another community, the Kashuas, and on Saturday the grass cutters. On Sunday the same, there the carnival celebration ends.

What places do you promote here in Cotos which can be visited?

Here we have quite a few attractions. This town is clearly touristic, we are promoting tourism. So here we have the biggest beach around in all of Puno. Besides Charcas and other small beaches, we have Chifron, but this is the biggest beach in Cotos. We have archeological remains such as Ancasayama, at the entrance of the alley, then we have Ticonata Island that already has accommodations for tourists.

Here we have an excellent microclimate. It is not very cold, nor very hot, as we are at 2,800, to 3,000 meters above sea level. The highest part is at 4,000, so it´s good for a quiet stay for a visitor, even more so in this season in which everything is green. Everything is very good. So, visit us!

Kind viewers, thanks for your company on Enlightening Entertainment. Please join us again tomorrow for the continuation of our pleasant stay at Lake Titicaca in Puno, Peru. Now, please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May your life be colored by happiness at every moment.

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