BOLIVIA: AYMARA INDIANS NEW YEAR'S DAY FESTIVAL

Описание: (22 Jun 1995) Natural Sound

The Aymara Indians of Bolivia have celebrated their New Year's Day.

They've welcomed in the year 5,503 with celebrations at the legendary ruins of Tiwanacu, Bolivia.

Tiwanacu fulfills again a tradition that is centuries old.

It is the celebration of the Aymara Indian new year, 5-thousand, 503.

Thousands of people, many of them from all over the world, gathered Wednesday at the ruins of Tiwanacu to watch the sunrise through the Door of the Sun.

These ruins, the most important archeological site in Bolivia, are the remains of one of the most remarkable pre-Colombian civilization in the Americas.

The crowd anxiously awaits to see the first ray of the sun, a sacred moment, especially for the young, during which they receive the blessings of their ancestors.

The celebration also has a very practical meaning, this is also the beginning of the harvest season.

The supreme priest burns incense and in Aymara language says a prayer promising faithfulness to Pachamama, mother earth. Dawn at the ancient Aymara sacred site at Tiwanacu.

According to the Aymara tradition, mankind was created during a great wind, which scattered the stars and the planets throughout the universe, the same way a farmer casts the seeds in the field.

These are the pillars of the Tiwanacu culture: a profound knowledge of the cosmos and agricultural techniques that allow this civilization to thrive in the arid Altiplano for thousands of years.

In the last ten years there has been a revival of the Tiwanacu traditions.

Last year, for the first time in the history of Bolivia, the vice president of the country attended the event and promised that the Aymara new year will never have to be celebrated in secrecy for fear of repression.

In fact, the festival is becoming ever more popular attracting hundreds of tourists from all over the world.

Thus Tiwanacu once again gets its day in the sun.

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