Apu Mountain Spirits in Andean Cosmology
The apus, or mountain spirits, were among the most important and widely venerated deities of the Inca Empire and remain central to the religious life of the rural Andes in the modern period. The word apu referred to a mountain deity, and the highest peaks of the Andes were regarded as the dwelling places of powerful apus who controlled the weather, the fertility of the lands below, and the fate of travelers. The Inca identified a hierarchy of apus that corresponded to the political hierarchy of the empire: each province had its principal apu, and the highest apus, such as Salcantay near Cusco, the Ausangate range, and Huayna Picchu above Machu Picchu, were venerated throughout the empire and beyond. The cult of the apus was one of the most widespread forms of huaca worship, and it was tied to the agricultural calendar, to the system of royal shrines, and to the practice of sacrifice and ritual on the high mountain peaks.
The principal sources for the cult of the apus are the chronicles of Pedro Cieza de León (1550s), Garcilaso de la Vega (1609), Bernabé Cobo (1653), and Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (1615), supplemented by the modern ethnographic work of scholars such as Joseph Bastien, Catherine Allen, and Inge Bolin, who have documented the persistence of the cult in the rural Andes.
The Apus as the Lords of the Mountains
In Inca cosmology, the apus were the lords of the mountains, and the high peaks of the Andes were understood to be their dwelling places. The chroniclers report that the apus controlled the weather, particularly the rain and the snow, and that they were responsible for the fertility of the lands that lay below their peaks. Each apu was understood to have a particular character, a particular set of offerings, and a particular calendrical date on which it was to be honored. The Inca identified a hierarchy of apus that corresponded to the political hierarchy of the empire, with the highest apus venerated throughout the empire and the lesser apus venerated only in their local regions.
The apus were typically associated with the highest and most visible peaks of the Andes. The Ausangate range, located southeast of Cusco, was one of the most important apus of the Inca state, and the festival of Quyllurit’i, celebrated annually on the slopes of the mountain, was one of the largest gatherings of pilgrims in the colonial Andes. The Salcantay peak, located southwest of Cusco in the Vilcabamba range, was another principal apu, and the Huamán Lipa range was venerated by the inhabitants of the Sacred Valley. The Huayna Picchu peak, which rises above the royal estate of Machu Picchu, was the tutelary apu of the estate, and the construction of Machu Picchu is understood by many scholars to have been motivated at least in part by the desire to honor this apu.
The apus were also consulted for divination. The flight of birds over a mountain, the appearance of clouds around its peak, and the sound of avalanches were all interpreted as messages from the apu. The chronicler Cobo records that the diviners of the empire would travel to the high peaks to consult the apus on questions of weather, of harvest, and of war, and that the responses were typically conveyed through the medium of dreams, of visions, or of the flight of birds. The consultation of the apus was an important element of the Inca state religion, and the apus played a significant role in the political life of the empire.
The Cult of the Apus and the High Mountain Shrines
The cult of the apus involved pilgrimages to the high shrines, offerings of llama fat and coca leaves, and the performance of rituals at the base of the mountain or on its summit. The high mountain shrines of the Inca state, including the famous Capacocha sites at Llullaillaco, Quehuar, and other peaks, were typically located at elevations above 5,000 meters, often in places that were difficult of access and that required substantial logistical preparation. The chroniclers report that the shrines were maintained by a small group of priests and attendants who lived in nearby settlements, and that the shrines were the destination of regular pilgrimages from the surrounding regions.
The most famous of the high mountain shrines is the site of Llullaillaco, a 6,739-meter peak on the border of present-day Argentina and Chile. The site, which was excavated in 1999 by the American archaeologist Johan Reinhard and his team, yielded the bodies of three children — two girls of about thirteen and fifteen, and a boy of about six or seven — who had been sacrificed some five hundred years earlier, probably in the late fifteenth century. The children, who are known as the Llullaillaco maidens and the Llullaillaco boy, were found in small stone structures on the summit of the mountain, and the cold, dry conditions of the site preserved their skin, hair, and clothing in extraordinary detail. The discovery of the Llullaillaco children is widely regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds in Andean history.
The Llullaillaco site and other Capacocha sites have provided dramatic confirmation of the chroniclers’ accounts of the cult of the apus. The sacrifices were typically performed on the summit of the mountain, often in small stone structures built for the purpose, and the bodies of the sacrificed children were preserved by the cold and dry conditions of the high mountains. The discovery of these sites has been the subject of detailed scientific study, including DNA analysis, isotope analysis of diet, and CT scanning, which has yielded insights into Inca sacrificial practice and the social background of the children.
The Apus and the Geography of Empire
In the geography and administration of the empire, the apus played a role in marking the boundaries of provinces and in legitimizing the authority of local lords, who claimed descent from particular mountains. The Inca identification of particular peaks as the dwelling places of apus also influenced the placement of major architectural works, including the royal estate of Machu Picchu, which stands at the base of the apu Huayna Picchu, and the fortress of Sacsayhuamán, which overlooks Cusco from a ridge that was associated with the apu of the same name.
The integration of the apus into the imperial geography was a key element of the sacred sites and huacas of the Andes. Each apu was understood to be a guardian of the lands within its domain, and the people of the region were required to honor the apu with appropriate offerings and rituals. The apus were also understood to be the ancestors of particular lineages, and the descent of a ruling family from a particular apu was a common feature of Inca dynastic ideology. The apus were, in this sense, both gods and ancestors, and the cult of the apus was an important element of the social and political organization of the empire.
The relation between the apus and the ceque system of Cusco was also close. The ceques that radiated outward from the Coricancha passed through a number of mountain shrines, and the apus associated with these shrines were understood to be the guardians of the surrounding regions. The system thus provided a mechanism for the integration of the apus into the imperial cult and for the regulation of the relations between the central cult of the sun and the local cults of the mountains.
The Persistence of the Cult in the Modern Andes
The cult of the apus has shown remarkable continuity in the rural Andes, and the apus remain important elements of the religious life of the Quechua and Aymara peoples of Peru and Bolivia. The apus are still consulted on questions of weather, of harvest, and of personal fortune, and the high mountain shrines are still visited by pilgrims who make offerings of coca leaves, llama fat, and chicha. The festival of Quyllurit’i, celebrated annually on the slopes of the Ausangate range, is still one of the largest gatherings of indigenous pilgrims in the Andes, drawing tens of thousands of people from across Peru and Bolivia.
The persistence of the cult of the apus has been the subject of substantial scholarly and ethnographic work. The American anthropologist Joseph Bastien, in his studies of the Aymara of Bolivia, has documented the persistence of the cult of the mountains in combination with Catholic devotion, and the ethnographer Inge Bolin has described similar practices in her studies of the highland communities of Peru. The Bolivian anthropologist Henry Stobart has documented the survival of the cult of the apus in the highland communities of Bolivia, and the work of the Peruvian ethnographer Ricardo Valderrama has described the persistence of mountain rituals in the Cusco region. The continuing cult of the apus suggests that the religious traditions of the central Andes have proven remarkably durable in the face of conquest and evangelization.