Dragana Jovančević-Inkas World

If you are from those who are full of some hazy foreboding always searching for an unknown land somewhere far behind rainbow, then you should certainly visit Peru, the magnificent Andes that kept the secret of intersections on which lies the Puma, visit the holy shrines of the Navel of the world and Old Mountain where was discovered long ago forbidden city, and while you're standing in the ruins of the sanctuary take a deep breath and stretch your hands and like a Condor take off in your own imagination, as if you, at least for a moment, for some inexplicable miracle converted to that glorious King of The Andes what keeps the mystery of once a mighty empire.

Secret of the crossroads on which the Puma lies

At the crossroads, where the Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo found a place where the golden stick was able to penetrate most deeply into the ground, Pachacútek founded the city that would become the spiritual and political center of a mighty empire. Since then, in the heart of this empire, whose name Tahuantisuyo translates as Empire of four sides of the world, there is the city for which Incas believed that represent the navel of the world.

According to their beliefs, there were three worlds: The Underworld, The World of Living and The Upper World or the World of the Gods. Between these worlds, there were points of contact, one of them was Cuzco. There it was possible to cross the bridge between worlds which is presented by Chacana or by Andean cross, which connects this world with the world of the dead or the world of gods. Andean cross consists of four flights of stairs, two external - higher, and two internal - lower. The right outer line represents the cosmic theory and the left the theory of the three worlds, while the lower right line indicates the basic principles and norms governing interpersonal relations and left bottom row represents the hierarchical position. Thus, the city which was the administrative and spiritual center of an empire that has sought to the perfect arrangement was deliberately constructed in the form of a puma, symbolizing the world, and the authority, regulated relationships, and seniority, as the basis for the transformation which the Incas weighed.

Central Square Cusco was right where the Puma breasts, and there was a Qurikancha (Qorikancha) or golden temple. The head of a puma was at the hill where he built a fortress Saksajuaman

Sanctuaries of " The Navel of the world."

Qurikancha was a shrine dedicated to the Sun God and in translation means an enclosure which keeps the gold. From the sanctuary, which consisted of several temples, a large market, and gold garden only parts of the ambient units remained and outer wall. The rest of the sanctuary covers the monastery of Santo Domingo, who built the Spanish conquerors. On the west side were the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Moon and Star Temple, and on the east side The Temple of the Lightning, The Temple of The Rainbow and the Temple of The Earth. In front of the temple once was located Intipampa Square (Plains of the Sun), and today there is Santo Domingo Square. Inkas believed that in the Temple of the Sun, which was the main temple existed four gates, oriented towards four main directions, and that the fifth gate was geared towards the north and led to the Square Intipampa, while the main window was oriented to sunrise, to the east. All doors were encrusted with gold. The main altar was a figure of the sun, whose round face with rays Inkas made from a single piece of a gold plate that was twice the size of others that covered the walls. On the disks at the door oriented to east and west, every morning and midday have reflected the sunshine. The semicircular portion of the stone in the temple which was square in the plan was the path of the sun. Embalmed body of the "sons of the sun" were here in order of age and above them was a statue of the sun with a human face, adorned with many precious stones. During equinox in December sunlight is passing through the east window at an angle of thirteen degrees illuminating the central niche, then moved from one slot to another, alternately illuminating them. The same angle of Cusco has in relation to the equator, and this, and the fact that they built temples without the use of mortar lining up stone blocks on each other fitting them under the form indicates the perfection of Inca architecture. All the walls were a little tilted so that one supports the other in a zig-zag line, and they are resistant to earthquakes.

In Qorikancha there were five water sources whose origin was kept as a secret. They had religious significance and were decorated with precious metals. Through one of them flowed Cicha mixed with the blood of llamas. They have touched the blood, smearing his forehead, believing that it will bring them health. The decoration of the shrine was a golden garden. It has everything gilded, from the fence to the trees, birds, wellsprings, figures of the people, even a field of corn, which represented for Incas sacred plant. The remains of the garden with the outside wall one can still see from the street Avenida del Sol.

Two kilometers northeast of Cusco was a fortress Sacsayhuamán, built on the hill, so it makes the head of a Puma. The construction of this fort, whose name in translation means the place where is protected the Falcon, lasted about seventy years, and about twenty thousand people had been working on the building. The three lines of the walls of the monolithic stone are considered to represent Pumas teeth. There is every year during the winter solstice a festival dedicated to the Sun God, with people wearing masks of different colors, playing traditional dances, keeping the traditions of ancestors in that way.

In nearby Cuzco, the Urubamba River valley there was the Sacred Valley of the Incas that contained one of the most famous shrines. Quenko locality was found thanks to the Chronicles of Garcilaso de la Vega (Garcilaso de la Vega), son of the Spanish conquistadors and the Inca princess. It was the ritual center which consisted of a semicircular amphitheater and underground galleries. Quenko means labyrinth. There is the stone plateau used probably for offering sacrifices and in the caves they performed mummification. The zig-zag lines that symbolize the lightning are typical for this place and a three-level stone is a symbol of the three world. They transmitted Mummies from here to the site Pukapukara, and then to the Tambomachay where they buried them in a fetal position because of rebirth. With them, they buried here, and all the items they loved and for which they deemed that they would need in the new world. Pukapukara means red rocks, and it was given this name because sunrays fall on it in a particular part of the year at a certain angle, and it gets red. This location probably served as a watchtower and as a break for the runner-messengers. Unlike that, Tambomachay was used for rest of a master of the empire. It is believed that this finding was Inka bathroom, a source of eternal youth, milk of Pachamama- Mother Earth, a shrine which was dedicated to the cult of water.

Forbidden City

For the Incas was a significant division into three worlds: the underworld, whose symbols are Condor, Serpent, and Puma; this world with symbols of Rainbow, Lightning and Earth and the upper world which symbols are Sun, Moon, and Stars. All three symbols of deities who belong to the same world had to be together, and that we can see today in the best-preserved and most famous city of Inka- Machu Picchu, which in the chronicles of Garcilaso de la Vega, is not mentioned. It was discovered by American historian Hiram Bingham while searching for the lost city Vilcabamba, the last city where the Incas hid from the conquering Spanish invaders. This town lost in the jungle has not been found.

Machu Picchu, about whose purpose there are several theories, has been inhabited and abandoned for less than a hundred years. While some believe that it was the palace of the kings in nature, others think that the primary purpose of the city was that the clergy and aristocracy supply with coca leaves. Archaeological research led to the discovery that most of the remains belong to the women, so it is possible that this place served as an asylum for The Princesses Virgins of the Inca Empire, Princesses of the Sun or Ñustas.

This site is divided into two parts. One of the farm and the other urban. The urban area had three zones: religious, military and residential. In the religious area, in the eastern part of the town were the temples, the sacred stone and the Monastery of the Virgin of The Sun. At the highest point of the city, there was a Holy Square- La Plaza Sagrada and it's two most important temple: The main temple- El Templo Principal and the Temple of Three Windows- El Templo de las Tres Ventanas.

Temple of the Three Windows was a symbol of the divine trilogy of The Snake, Puma, and Condor, like the three-door of Qurikancha Temple, were a symbol of the divine trilogy of The Rainbow, Lightning, and Thunder.

At the highest point of the zone was a religious shrine for the worship of the Sun God -Intihuatana. Sun Temple built in a semi-circular shape surrounds the sacred stone and is located above the cave in which they deposited, mummies. Through its two windows from a point called the "Gate of The Sun" - La Puerta del Sol or the other side of the valley Vilcanota, during the summer and winter solstice (21 December and 24 June), the sun's rays enter the temple and descend to the surface of the Holy Stone. In addition to this sacred stone on The Ceremonial Square was another large stone that represented Mother Earth. From the square ceremonial staircase led to the observatory where with the help of two liquid containers, which were used as a water mirror, they watched the movements of the stars. In the eastern part there was a Temple of The Condor, and next to it The Earth Temple or The Temple of the Dead, which is not completed. At the head of The Condor, they poured the chicha mixed with blood because they believed that Condor transferred souls of the dead to another world.

In Vayna Picchu -New Mountain, which has a natural shape of a puma, are The Temple of The Stars and the Temple of the Moon. Incas that according to its cosmic vision, has been believing that because of the beauty of the landscapes that surround Machu Picchu-Old Mountain, Universe itself wanted there to be a sanctuary, built around the holy city. Machu Picchu was built in a place that keeps The Puma, in the form of a Condor flying to the west, where the sun goes to sleep, while around the river is meandering in the shape of a snake, closing the circle of the divine (snake- puma-condor).In the observation center on New Mountain Inka corpses were found that are not buried in a fetal position. It is assumed that the inhabitants of Machu Picchu fallen by an epidemic of measles, and that this city was subsequently banned and forgotten.

Thanks to this place we can sense what is in the city known as a center of the Inca civilization remained hidden beneath the walls of the monastery who raised Spanish conquerors, that Manko Kapak and Mama Ocllo were built.

The symbolism of the rainbow

Manco Kapak is the son of the god Inti, which he sent with the help of lightning, from heaven to earth to establish a civilization of people that he will learn to agriculture, along with his sister Mama Occllo, that women should teach various crafts and turn them into a hardworking and good wives. The Sculpture of the founder of the city testifies about it at which on the other side is the flag of the empire they had created, in the colors of rainbow symbolizing the harmony that has prevailed in the empire. The red color represents the planet earth and the people who originate from the Andes; orange their society and culture; yellow moral principles, energy and strength; white science, technology and art, physical and intellectual work; green economy, natural resources of Andes, flora and fauna, water and minerals; blue cosmic expanse, infinity, universe, while purple represents the ideology and policy of the Andean nation, the instruments of the state, its organization and administration. This harmony had to be achieved not only in this but in all the three worlds in which the Incas believed, and they are:

• Ukju PachaPacha-The underground world that is presented by a snake that is a symbol of infinite for Incas. It connects with the subconscious and also represents the inner world. The energy of the snake on the spiritual plane is transformed into wisdom to reach the next level.
• Kay Pacha -The world of the living, which represents a symbol of Puma that for the Incas were a symbol of power and intelligence. It strength and determination of the Incas should reach to establish a balance with the world around them and to shift to the next level.
• Hanan Pacha - The upper world or The Universe in which live beings of light: sun, moon, stars. The symbol of this world is the condor that strives to altitudes and carries souls of the dead to the upper world. He is the messenger of the gods.

To attain the status of condors, Inka should have first to explore their interior, to twists like a snake and move into a puma achieving stability and control, to reach finally the level toward which they strive. To be for a moment part of this unreal world, you only need to wish and hit the road...