T’ikapallana

During Carnival celebrations in the week before Lent, festivities take place all throughout Peru and elsewhere in South America. It is a significant time in most cultures across the continent. For my project’s focus on the Quechua culture, I needed to find examples of the traditions that are still well intact. The majority of these traditions are preserved in the small communities and rural areas.

I learned of several celebrations in different places (bambas in Quechua) that would be good candidates for me to learn about and document. However, with them all occurring at the same time and with travel through the Andes being arduous and time-consuming, I had to focus on just one. I chose the festivities of T’ikapallana.

T’ikapallana is a celebration unique to the Cotabambas province of Apurimac and takes place near the community of Tambobamba. It begins at the stadium in Tambobamba where delegations from different communities perform typical dances of their homes. The celebrations go on until the night. The following morning hundreds of riders set out well before dawn on horseback. They ride from all over the region destined for the area of Porotopampa in the high-elevation grasslands.

They have gathered at this location for centuries and at this time of year. It is the rainy season near summer’s end and the surphuy and waqanki flowers are in bloom. T’ikapallana means ‘picking flowers’ which is what they have come to do. The women gather the flowers and make them into small arrangements which they use to adorn their hats.

They have also come to sing and express their emotions in song. A few thousand people gather at Porotopampa and almost as many horses are with them. The gathering is in part to celebrate but also to pray. They pray to the Apus (mountain spirits) to protect their livestock and crops.

They are especially fond of and appreciate their horses which they celebrate during T’ikapallana. They sing and play music to them as they express their emotions. Some cry in order to shed the pain of something that has happened in their life recently but most are joyous.

They gather with friends and family, eating, drinking, and singing as riders proudly display their horses strutting them back and forth along the designated track in the middle of the festivities. Games are played throughout the day which usually involve flirtation amongst the young men and women as it is an opportunity to meet a potential partner. They spray each other with foam as a way to capture someone’s attention. This was traditionally done with water but has evolved to using water-based foam spray.

The festivities go on until the late afternoon before participants begin to descend back to Tambobamba. It is a gradual return though as they stop partway down where they will eat, drink, and sing some more. Eventually, most people will get to Tambobamba in the early evening where the celebrations will continue throughout the night.

It is a beautiful and festive celebration that was amazing to witness and participate in. I was welcomed by many groups throughout the day and received my fair share of foam in my face. I would very much like to return next year but there are so many other unique celebrations in other places (bambas) that it will be difficult to decide.

I hope you are all finding something to celebrate and finding ways to release your emotions.

Be well,

MB