Peru Guide
Around Cusco
The Temple of Raqchi
The TEMPLO DE RAQCHI (daily 9am–5.30pm; $3) was built in honour of Viracocha, the Inca creator god. Buses pass within a few hundred metres of the entrance to the imposing ruins. The temple was evidently built to appease the god Viracocha after he had caused the nearby volcano of Quimsa Chata to spew out fiery boulders in a rage of anger, and even now massive volcanic boulders and ancient lava flows scar the landscape in constant reminder. With its adobe walls still standing over 12m high on top of polished stone foundations, and the site scattered with numerous other buildings and plazas, such as barracks, cylindrical warehouses, a palace, baths and aqueducts, Raqchi was clearly an important religious centre. Today the only ritual left is the annual Raqchi Festival (usually June 16–22), a dramatic, untouristy fiesta comprising three to four days of folkloric music and dance – performed by groups congregating here from as far away as Bolivia to compete on the central stage. The performances are well stage-managed but the site, in a boggy field, can be mayhem, with hundreds of food stalls, a funfair, Quechua women selling chicha maize beer and their drunken customers staggering through the tightly knit crowds.