Morning Meditation at Machu Picchu

Wherever I travel, whether it is Grand Canyon or Cayucos, I always try to watch the Sunrise and/or Sunset at the location. For months, I had been looking forward to watch the Sunrise at Machu Picchu.  From Aguas Calientes, the first bus to Machu Picchu leaves at 5:30 AM. The gates to Machu Picchu opens at 6 AM.

I got up at 4:30, had my coffee at the Hatun Inti Hotel (where we were staying) and headed to the bus stop, which was right across from the Hotel. I was thinking/hoping that there won't be many crazy people like me and I would get in to the first bus to Machu Picchu. To my astonishment, there were around 70 people at the bus stop.  Nothing to worry since there were already 5 buses lined up and I was able to get in to the third bus.

6/16/2014, 5:08 AM
Aguas Calientes. The crowd to catch the first early morning bus to Machu Picchu

6:00 AM
At Machu Picchu entrance.

6:17 AM
I was expecting lot of early morning fog and clouds. Again to my surprise, there was very little fog.

6:26 AM

7:13 AM
Though the Sunrise was at 6:09 AM, by the time the Sun cleared the near by mountain peaks, it was around 7:10 AM. 

7:20 AM

7:22 AM
As the Sun rose slowly,  section by section, the Machu Picchu ruins were getting illuminated by the Sunlight.

7:23 AM
The Sun fully came out and lit up Machu Picchu; more and more crowds started arriving.
I packed up my tripod and camera and started walking "backwards" towards the exit,
fully taking in the magnificent view and unable to leave the place I waited for 4 years to visit :)

For me, this is an exhilarating morning meditation worth experiencing at the mystical and magical Machu Picchu.

@Night: Yanahuara

At the Sacred Valley, we stayed at the "Casa Andina Private Collection" hotel for 2 nights. The hotel is located at Yanahuara (pronounced, "Yana Wara"), which is a small village between Ollantaytambo (blog post) and Urubamba.

The Casa Andina Private Collection hotel is surrounded by hills, spread out over a
large area with pleasing landscaping.

Just like I do in all the places I visit, I was ready with my tripod and camera to capture the night sky and
it turned out to be cloudy but beautiful.

Since it could rain anytime, there was a pot of umbrellas at each building!

I had better luck the next day/night with almost clear skies.  Before the trip , I was eagerly looking forward to
capture the southern hemisphere constellations (not visible even from San Diego). I was thrilled to capture
the "Southern Cross" constellation, which is towards the left top. The two bright stars above the
Southern Cross at an angle,  closer to the edge of the photo are Alpha Centauri and
Beta Centauri, from the constellation Centaurus.
June 13, 2014, 9:46 PM

Intihuatana

The Indians, the Egyptians, the Greek and the Mayans observed and clearly understood the movement of the Sun, the moon, the planets and the stars. The Incas did the same and the Machu Picchu ruins clearly demonstrate the Incas' mastery of astronomy!

1) Intihuatana

In "Quechua", the language of the Incas, "Inti" means the "Sun" and "huata" means "to tie". Intihuatana means the "To tie the Sun" or "The hitching post of the Sun". Incas were Sun worshipers and had a very precise understanding of the northern and the southern movement (solstices) of the Sun. Situated at the top of a hill, at the highest elevation at Machu Picchu, is a granite structure called Inithuatana. 

During the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice, June 21st (summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere), the Sun is farthest at north. After the winter solstice, the Sun starts moving south. The Incas built the Intihuatana to accurately predict the Winter solstice day. The Inithuatana is considered as the most important part of Machu Picchu.
 

The Intihuatana is at the top of the hill (middle, top of this photo).

The Intihuatana is sculpted on granite rock at the top of the hill.
The Incas used the shadow cast by the pillar to accurately predict their winter solstice.

On the Winter solstice morning, the rising Sun casts the shadow of the pillar to fall on curved notch, carved
on to a flat rock near the Intihuatana. When the shadow falls on the curved notch,
Incas knew that the Sun is going to start turning back towards South.
The flat rock with the curved notch on it is at the center, at the edge of the hill.

Close up view of curved notch.

2) Sun Temple

The second most important building in the ancient city of Machu Picchu is the Sun Temple. Wherever you see a curved/elliptical wall built by the Incas in Peru, you can safely assume it is to do with the Sun. I wonder if that is do with the Incas' knowledge of earth's elliptical path around the Sun.

The Sun Temple with a curved wall and the two windows to
keep track of the summer and winter solstices.

The Sun Temple.

There is no access to the inside of the Sun temple. Either you can see it from below or from the top. Only the walls were built buy the Incas and the rock inside is natural rock on the hill and is considered sacred by the Incas. During the Incas' summer (December) solstice, when the Sun's rays rise over a natural V-shaped notch on the top a mountain, 2 miles away, it enters through one of the windows and shines on the rock inside the Sun temple. During the Incas' winter (June) solstice, the same phenomenon happens through another window precisely placed on the curved wall. I have tried to show the path of the Sun light through these two windows during the summer and winter solstices with red lines in the next photo.

The two trapezoidal windows on the curved wall of the Sun temple are perfectly aligned to keep track of the June and December solstices.

It is really mind-boggling to think how the Inca engineers aligned the Solstice Sun, the V-notch in the mountain and the windows of the Sun temple. With no calendar system to keep track, this is only possible after years and years of observing the sky.

3) Rock shaped like Southern Cross

The constellation  known to us now as "Southern Cross", visible only from southern latitudes, is of great importance to the Incas. When the Southern Cross rises over the Incas' sacred mountain, Salkantay in May, it is the arrival of the rainy season for the Incas. 

In Machu Picchu, near the Initihuatana area, one of the rocks is sculpted exactly like the Southern Cross. Researchers have confirmed that this rock points to exactly the top star of the Southern Cross.

Rock sculpted like the constellation Southern Cross

Highlighted (or dark-lighted) the Southern Cross constellation in this photo I took in Peru. 

These three structures in Machu Picchu are definitely dedicated to astronomical events of great importance to the Incas.  They were very precisely and strategically placed in order to accurately predict change of seasons to help with their agricultural activities.

Mystical Machu Picchu

Do you know that Hiram Bingham was the inspiration for the movie character Indiana Jones? Look at the similarities in the photos below. Even Indiana Jones' hat was designed to look like Hiram Bingham's. :) In 1911, while working as a lecturer in Yale University, Hiram Bingham, with help from the local people, discovered the ruins of Machhu Picchu. Later on, he became the governor of Connecticut and then a US Senator. Today, the train to Machu Picchu is named after Hiram Bingham.

Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu in 1911 and Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

We took the train from Ollantaytambo (link to previous post) to Aguas Calientes, which is at the base of Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes is the last stop for all the Machu Picchu trains from Ollantaytambo and Cusco. From Aguas Calientes, the only way to reach Machu Picchu is by the Peru government run small buses (or you can hike fore few hours). This ride takes around 30 minutes and goes through narrow mountain roads with plenty of switchbacks (aka hairpin bends). The road is very narrow and in many places only one bus can travel. If another bus comes in the opposite direction, one of the buses have to travel in reverse for 50 to 100 feet until both reach a place where they can safely cross each other. It was fun backing up to the edge of the road :) 

The narrow bus road from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu hugging the mountain slopes.
This photo is from the web. Not mine :)

The buildings and terraces at Machu Picchu are spread over 5 square miles.
To get an idea about the size of the Macu Picchu ruins, zoom in to this map.

Mind blowing view from the Caretaker's Hut.
I don't have words to describe this scene. This must be experienced :)

Machu Picchu was well planned and built by the Inca engineers with an "Agricultural Sector" consisting of around 700 stepped terraces to grow crops and an "Urban Sector" with temples and houses for the Inca royals. The Incas also built a water canal that runs for around 2500 feet to the first fountain and then to 15 other fountains distributed throughout the area.

View of the Caretaker's hut from below. Water drainage system on the right.

The Inca house and the Sun temple on the left.
The Huayna Picchu mountain in the middle.

All the Machu Picchu buildings are believed to have had thatched roofs,
that didn't survive.

Close up of Huayna Picchu. There are more terraces and a Moon Temple at the top of Huayna Picchu.
The near vertical hike to Huayna Picchu is considered extremely challenging to those with fear of heights.
Everyday only the first 400 people  are allowed to hike Huayna Picchu

Huayna (pronounced as Waina) Picchu framed by an entrance.

Temple of the Condor. A condor's face is carved on the rock.
Since Condors reach very high altitudes, Incas worshiped them as the link
between the living and their ancestors.

The Machu Picchu mountains get an average of 76 inches of rain per year. Frequent land slides are very common in the area. Peru is also prone to major earthquakes. Machu Picchu was built at an altitude of 8000 feet above the sea level. All the needed stones had to be transported to this very difficult site.The Incas were fully aware of these challenges and had addressed each one of these issues. 

Today, civil engineers studying Machu Picchu have discovered a well-built foundation under the ruins and an excellent drainage system to handle the heavy rainfall. They have estimated that what we see above the ground is only 40% of what the Incas have done. The Incas didn't use mortar to construct the walls. Instead, they cut grooves and interlocked each and every stone. During earthquakes, the walls shake but they don't get damaged. 

Why would the Incas select such a difficult place to construct the "city in the clouds"? Incas had 3 reasons:

• The Incas worshiped the mountains since mountains connect the earth to the skies.
  Machu Picchu was built on a ridge between 2 mountains, Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, which were worshiped by the Incas.

• There was plenty of water in the area with natural springs and the River Urubamba (considered the earthly equivalent of the MilkyWay) circling the  Machu Picchu on 3 sides. 

• The Incas also wanted to observe the Sun and the movement of the stars from this high elevation.

I have not written anything about the astronomical connections/constructions at Machu Picchu. That is the subject of the next post :)

Ollantaytambo

Sacred Valley:

Right after we landed in Cusco airport, before we could feel the effect of the high altitude of 11,150 feet (3400 meters above sea level), we were quickly whisked away to Sacred Valley, which lies at a lower elevation, north and west of  Cusco. During the Inca period, Cusco was the spiritual capital of the Incas but the Sacred Valley was of great ceremonial importance. The Sacred Valley is a beautiful stretch of valley surrounded by tall mountains. The Urubamba river (Rio Urubamba in the map below) cuts through the Sacred valley. The Incas considered the Urubamba river as the earthly equivalent of the Milky Way. The three important small towns/villages in the Sacred Valley are Ollantaytambo, Urubamba and Pisac.

Ollantaytambo:
With its Inca built narrow alleys with stone walls and water canals, Ollantaytambo is a well preserved Inca village.

What looks like giant steps here are agricultural terraces, another Inca ingenuity (better visibility in the next photo).
As we climbed to the top to visit the unfinished Sun temple, the Sun was very gentle on u s:)

Agricultural terraces: In order to feed a lot of people, the Incas flattened the mountain slopes in to steps and
used the terraces to grow Quinoa, Maize, Potatoes and Coca. The agricultural terraces are a
common sight all over Peru and Bolivia.

View of Ollantaytambo village from the top of the ruins. The structure on the slope of the mountain  (almost,
the middle of the photo) is a food storage building used by the Incas, where they stored Quinoa, Maize and Potatoes.
The food was distributed to the entire population.

Close up of the food storage building.

The unfinished Sun temple at the top. Referred to as the "six monoliths",
no one understands the significance of this structure.

At the center, the "Ten Niches". To the right of the "Ten Niches" is the unfinished entrance to the Temple of the Sun (above).

Water temple. Just like the Sun, the Incas understood the importance of water and worshiped it.
There is a water fountain inside this temple as well as many fountains on the right side.

Water temple. On the day of the Solstice, when the Sun cleared the mountain (visible through the window)
and hit the water fountain, the Incas considered that the water was blessed by their ancestors.

Archaeological explorations are ongoing in Ollantaytambo and more Inca built structures are getting unearthed.

What good is a tourist place if there are no shops :)

As is clearly evident, the Ollantaytambo ruins indicate that the construction was abandoned in the middle. The Inca Temples and the buildings above the town on the mountain slopes were of great importance to the Incas, an engineering marvel and a testament to the Incas' architectural skills.

The Inca Itch !!!

In 2009, my friend hiked the Inca trail for 4 days to visit Machu Picchu. His experiences and photos triggered the desire to visit Peru. During the summer of 2010, I was all set to go on a trip to Peru with my family and two of my cousins' families. I picked up a book on the Incas, "The Secret Of The Incas: Myth, Astronomy, And The War Against Time" by William Sullivan.

It turned out to be an outstanding book connecting my favorite hobby, Astronomy with the the mythology, culture and the history of the Incas. As I was reading the book, with each chapter, my  interest in the Incas exploded exponentially and I was getting very eager to make the trip.

Then, just few weeks before the trip, my Mom fell sick. I encouraged my family to go on the trip (which they did, very reluctantly) and rushed to India to be with my Mom.

For the last 5 years, I was having the "Inca Itch" and finally, this summer along with my family, made the trip to Peru and Bolivia.












A really brief  summary of the Inca's culture:

It is impossible to write just a few lines about the Incas. Like every ancient culture around the world, the Incas looked up the sky during the day and night, watched the movement of the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars. They tried to make sense of the repetitive movements of the celestial bodies. As they recognized the patterns, they started making use of them for agricultural purposes - when the rainy season starts, when to plant the seeds and when to harvest. They also realized the importance of the Sun and worshiped the Sun. From this regard, they are no different from any other culture.

The Incas built many temples for the Sun (in Ollantaytambo,  Pisac and a magnificent one in Cusco).  They tracked the Sun's Solstices  with a stone pillar called Intihuatana in Machu Picchu. In addition, the Incas paid a lot of attention to the black clouds located in the Milky Way and created their myths based on them. They considered the Urubamba river in Ollantaytambo as the earthly equivalent of the Milky Way (As a side note,  Indian epics refer to the Milky Way as Akasha Ganga (The river Ganges in the Sky).


A really, really brief historical Timeline of the Incas:

•   200 AD - Tiwanaku City (now in Bolivia) was built south east of Lake Titicaca (which is
                  partly in Peru and partly in Bolivia).
•   650 AD - Beginning of the Wari - Tiwanaku period.
• 1000 AD - Tiwanaku culture collapsed due to an extended period of drought.
• 1200 AD - Mythical founding of Cusco city by Manco Capac (founder of the Inca Empire).
• 1438 AD - Pachacutec's (9th Inca Emperor) 33-year reign began.
                  Pachacutec expanded the Inca empire from current day Ecuador in the
                  north to Chile in the south.
• 1525 AD - Huayna Capac died; his son Huascar succeeded and fought with his brother
                  Atahualpa.
• 1532 AD - Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro with just 168 men, captured Atahualpa
                  starting the down fall of the Inca Empire.
• For almost 300 years the Spanish ruled Peru, ransacked the Gold, converted the Incas to Christianity, demolished the Incas' temples and built their cathedrals over the Inca foundations.
• 1824 AD - After many battles, Peru gained complete independence from Spain.

The massive Inca empire lasted just for a century (highlighted in blue, above).

This vacation was a complete immersion in to Inca's culture, history, Peru and Bolivia's people, food, drinks, the Llamas, Alpacas, Condors, very high altitudes (and the effects of it) and the light pollution free Southern Hemisphere night sky constellations and the Milky Way.  All in all, a dream vacation :)

View of the "Awesome Andes" from the flight from Lima to Cusco.

A Llama at Machu Picchu, making sure everything is all right :)

The Trout around Lake Titicaca, almost looks and tastes like Salmon (:-P...

If you are visiting Peru, don't miss the "Passion Fruit Pisco Sour" :))

Corpus Christi celebrations at Cusco

Souvenir shop at La Paz, Bolivia

Click on:  Google Map of our wanderlust :)