In mythology of

Andean civilizations The Andean civilizations were South American complex societies of many indigenous people. They stretched down the spine of the Andes for from southern Colombia, to Ecuador and Peru, including the deserts of coastal Peru, to north Chile and no ...

of South America, the amaru or katari ( aymara) is a mythical serpent or

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

. In

Inca mythology Inca mythology of the Inca Empire was based on pre-Inca beliefs that can be found in the Huarochirí Manuscript, and in pre-Inca cultures including Chavín, Paracas, Moche, and the Nazca culture. The mythology informed and supported Inca re ...

, Amaru is a huge double-headed serpent that dwells underground, at the bottom of lakes and rivers. Illustrated with the heads of a bird and a puma, Amaru can be seen emerging from a central element in the center of a stepped mountain or pyramid motif in the Gateway of the Sun at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. When illustrated on religious vessels, amaru is often seen with bird-like feet and wings, so that it resembles a dragon. Amaru is believed to be capable of transcending boundaries to and from the spiritual realm of the subterranean world. On Inca mythology it is described: "Dragon or rather a Chimera of

Inca Mythology Inca mythology of the Inca Empire was based on pre-Inca beliefs that can be found in the Huarochirí Manuscript, and in pre-Inca cultures including Chavín, Paracas, Moche, and the Nazca culture. The mythology informed and supported Inca re ...

. It had multiple heads consisting of either a puma's, a condor's, or a llama's head with a fox's muzzle, condor wings, snake's body, fish's tail, and coated in crocodilian or lizard scales. It was found frequently throughout Andean iconography and naming within the empire, and likely predates the rise of the Inca". Another author stated: "(''Sacred serpent'') was a serpent or

deity often represented as a giant winged serpent, with crystalline eyes, a reddish snout, a

llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

head, taruka horns, and a

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

tail. Depending on the variations of the Amaru, whether in the various animal features, names or tonality of its skin according to the legend told, the ophidic form of the Amaru was always present. Its symbolism is very broad:

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

storms A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

, the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

, etc. In Inca mythology, it was a symbol of wisdom, which is why the image of said totemic being was placed in the children of the Houses of Knowledge "Yachay Wasikuna". Amaru is associated with the economy of water, that irrigate the agricultural lands, symbolizing the vitality of the water that allows the existence of the Aymara people. Thus the deity Amaru symbolizes the water that runs through the irrigation canals, rivers and springs and that makes it possible for the seeds of the

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same spe ...

to be transformed into vegetables. Amaru is a mythical being that is also related to the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

, the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and

earthquakes An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...

. According to the myths, the Amarus have protective or destructive behavior. There's a myth called "Amaru Aranway" that is about two powerful Amarus fighting against each other, causing destruction and death as the fight still goes on. Then,

Viracocha Viracocha (also Wiraqocha, Huiracocha; Quechua Wiraqucha) is the creator and supreme deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. According to the myth Viracocha had human appearance and was generally consid ...

send the god Illapa (

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

) and Wayra (

Wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

) to defeat them. The two Amarus tried to fight the gods but then they tried to escape flying to the skies, but Wayra drag them back to earth with the power of wind and Illapa fought and put the final blow to them. When the two Amarus died, they turned into the chain of mountains that are located in valle del Mantaro,

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

References

Inca mythology Peruvian folklore Quechua legendary creatures South American dragons Underworld deities {{SouthAm-myth-stub

See also

References