Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the Andes, the Peruvians had already received from their ancestors a sacred story of how their civilization came into being a myth rich in symbolism, gods, and deep cultural affinity with nature.
The Sun God, Inti, looked down on a world where people walked without wisdom, law, or peace. He was sorry for them and decided to guide humankind to light and order. He sent his two sons, Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo, from his heavenly kingdom to bring wisdom, farming, and the moral teachings that would be the foundations of the Inca civilization.
Emerging from the shimmering waters of Lake Titicaca, they carried a golden staff, a holy instrument that would lead them to discover the land sanctified by Inti himself. The holy instrument symbolized spiritual authority, fertility, and the Sun’s connection with Earth.
Their journey would not only establish Cusco, the Inca capital city, but also establish the precepts of equilibrium, society, and nature reverence that defined Andean civilization.
