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Location:
Canas (Cusco)
Date: January 20
The
tradition of staging ritual battles to ensure the fertility
of the land lives on in a remote part of the department
of Cusco. The Pampa del Chiaraje, at an altitude of 4,700
meters above sea level, in the province of Canas, can be
reached by a paved road from the old Inca capital and then
via a dirt road. Here, every year the peaceful villagers
of Checcas, Langui and Layo stage an impressive battle.
Armed
with hardened lambswool slings, leather whips and waistcoats
decorated with flowers, young warriors taunt each other
in the mist or amidst pelting hailstorms. This is pucllay,
or war games, where the name of the game is to control as
much territory as possible and force the enemy to retreat.
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