This month there is a unique opportunity to visit an authentic Incan festival held high in the Andean mountains. If you are interested in witnessing first-hand Incan ceremonies & traditions in a small indigenous village under the stunning backdrop of one of the most striking peaks in the Vilcanota mountain range then please read on…

Among the many enchanting festivals that punctuate Peru´s annual calendar, the Qoyllority Festival stands out as one of the most intriguing of all.

Observing the ancient Incan belief in the intricate link between man and nature, each year thousands of pilgrims gather to celebrate Qoyllority, the Lord of the Snow Star. As legend has it the adulated snow star rests on the peak of the sacred mountain of ApuAusangate, located 180 kilometres South East of Cusco and towering at a dramatic 6362m.

Unique opportunity to learn about the Inca people in amazing scenery in the Ausangate region (Cusco)

DOS MANOS PERU offers this unique three day trip for all people really interested in Peruvian culture. “Quylloriti” is a quechua word and means “Snowstar” or “Shining Snow.” This is an old religious procession, a pilgrimage, only practiced by the inhabitants of the big Andes. The ritual, associated with the fertility of the land and the worship of Apus (the spirits of the mountains), forms part of the greatest festival of native Indian nations in the hemisphere.

Every year all the small village or clans of this zone send a delegation with colorful dancers and “pauluchas” to the Capilla del Senor Qoylloriti, situated at the foot of the mountain Sinakara, at 4600 meters above sea level, at approx. 300 kilometers from the city of Cusco. Qoylluriti is an important manifestation of religiosity in the Andes where you can observe the he blending of Spanish and Indigenous elements  (the Apus or “mountain-gods” and the crosses).