Viracocha

Viracocha (also Wiraqocha, Huiracocha; Quechua Wiraqucha) is the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America.

[14] According to a myth recorded by Juan de Betanzos,[15] Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca (or sometimes the cave of Paqariq Tampu) during the time of darkness to bring forth light.

In this legend, he destroyed the people around Lake Titicaca with a Great Flood called Unu Pachakuti, lasting 60 days and 60 nights, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world.

After the Great Flood and the Creation, Viracocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the northeast and northwest to determine if they still obeyed his commandments.

Eventually, Viracocha, Tocapo and Imahmana arrived at Cusco (in modern-day Peru) and the Pacific seacoast, where they walked away across the water until they disappeared.

Some people state that Wiraqucha could mean "Fat (or foam) of the sea",[11][21] etymology that has been discarded for grammatical considerations (constituent order in Quechua) at least since Inca Garcilaso.

[22] Some linguists think that linguistic, historical and archaeological evidence suggest that the name could be a borrowing of Aymara Wila Quta (wila "blood"; quta "lake"), due to the sacrifices of camelids that were celebrated at Lake Titiqaqa by pre-Incan Andean cultures that spoke Aymara.

[24] Similar accounts by Spanish chroniclers (e.g. Juan de Betanzos) describe Viracocha as a "white god", often with a beard.

[27] The beard, once believed to be a mark of a prehistoric European influence and quickly fueled and embellished by spirits of the colonial era, had its single significance in the continentally insular culture of Mesoamerica.

"[29] While descriptions of Viracocha's physical appearance are open to interpretation, men with beards were frequently depicted by the Peruvian Moche culture in its famous pottery, long before the arrival of the Spanish.

[33] A rock formation in the small village of Ollantaytambo in southern Peru is said by local legend to be a naturally formed or carved representation of the messenger of Viracocha named Wiracochan or Tunupa.

[34][35] Wiracochan, the pilgrim preacher of knowledge, the master of time, is described as a person with superhuman power—a bearded, tall man dressed as a priest or astronomer.

[36] The reasoning behind this strategy includes the fact that it was likely difficult to explain the Christian idea of "God" to the Incas, who failed to understand the concept.

In addition, replacing reference to Viracocha with "God" facilitated the substitution of the local concept of divinity with Christian theology.