La Fiesta del Corpus Christi

The festival of the Body of Christ is a major celebration in Cusco. It is held on 11 June and is celebrated in a very unique way in Cusco. The festival originates from an old Incan tradition where the people would parade the mummified remains of their ancestors around the main plaza in an attempt to consult with them about the future with respect to their harvests, weather, natural disasters etc. When the Spanish invaded Peru, they were horrified with the display of mummified remains and managed to convince and convert the majority of the population to Catholicism. In the place of mummified remains of ancestors, Peruvians started to parade effigies of their parish saints around the plaza. In most of Peru, the festival has taken a very religious tone and it is a very solemn event in most places. However, Cusco city has still managed to retain the combination of old tradition and new religion and devotees dress in traditional garb and do traditional dances whilst parading these effigies around the main plaza, creating a very festive atmosphere.

Mass in front of the Cathedral

The day starts of with Mass in the main plaza in front of the Cathedral. All the priests from all the parishes attend the mass and on this occasion, there was even a representative from the Vatican. Normal mass is said with all the faithful standing in the sun and lots of school representatives carrying their school flags around the altar. Holy Communion was a rather interesting affair and I was curious as to how one would give communion to the hundreds gathered. I guess it is a similar affair to Mass at St Peter´s Basilica in Vatican City and the priests go out to the crowds and give communion. The faithful slowly move forward to meet the priest and at one point, I was a little concerned when the priest nearest to us indicated that he did not have many hosts left to give. There was a bit of jostling as some tried to get the last few hosts but the priest managed to keep the small crowd calm and deal with it as best as he could.

The float carrying the Body of Christ


The Body of Christ is then paraded in an elaborate chalice carried in a float around the main plaza and then venerated by all present before the Mass is brought to a close.


After all that solemnity, the true excitement then begins. For those who know about the Hindu festival of Thaipusam, watching the devotees carry their patron saints around the plaza almost seems like an act of penance, perhaps it is one. The effigies are huge! On the shoulders of these Peruvian men, the top of the effigies reached the 2nd floor of buildings in the plaza! Each effigy belonged to a different church and each church had effigy-carriers, a band and other supporters following the effigies round the plaza. Some churches also had dancers dressed in traditional clothes. What amazed me was the colour of the costumes that people wore! Peruvians love their colours and their traditional clothes had every colour imaginable in every possible combination. It was just such a visual feast!


One of the many effigies... I am not sure which Saint this is.



Effigy bearers


Boy in traditional clothes

Although Ingrid and I stood and watched for most of the time, we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day.


June really is an excellent month to be in Cusco because of all these festivals. I had not heard about this particular festival till I got here and absoutely loved every minute of it!