The Sacred and Andean ceremony of the Kintu, in the Cusco culture refers to a group or bouquet of selected coca leaves and ritually used to make an offering. It is said that «Kintu is known in the Andes as «Koka Kintu» which means a gift from Inti, the sun god of the Incas. This Kintu consists of grouping 3 coca leaves that symbolized the 3 worlds of the Andean people (the world of the Gods, of humans and of the dead) who used it as an offering in their religious rituals to promote blessings, protection and good harvests.
Summary
How is the Andean Ceremony of Kintu Performed Today?
The Andean ceremony of Kintu was performed in honor of the main gods of the Incas. At present it is carried out to show respect and consideration to the pachamama in special ceremonies and daily to the sacred mountains (Apus). There are two types of ceremonies in which the Andean inhabitants make use of the Kintu; one of them that is carried out on a daily basis and the other on a very important date for the people of the Andes.
Kintu in front of a holly peak
Ceremony performed every day:
The Andean inhabitants, upon reaching the highest parts of their journey or places considered sacred by them, hold 3 coca leaves and by blowing (Pukuy) they invoke and honor the pachamama and four sacred mountains in the 4 cardinal points. Finally that Kintu is buried in the earth with the fingers or crushed with a small stone.
Pachamama offering
Andean ceremony of Kintu on August 1st:
The Andean priests place a series of Kintus (a bouquet of 3 coca leaves) around a mantle located on the floor, in the central part they place sweets, cookies, the fetus of a llama, flowers and a set of other typical ingredients of this Pachamama Andean ceremony. Finally, all this set of ingredients is blessed by the Andean priests and later buried inside the earth.
Interesting facts about the Kintu
Depending on the cultural tradition, the number of leaves selected goes from 2 to more leaves. In a 1965 study carried out by the anthropologist Fernando Fuenzalida in the town of Moya in the department of Huancavelica about a ceremony linked to the cult of the Wamanis (Apus or sacred mountains), he mentions that «of the handful of coca leaves received, each The person immediately selects the four or five healthiest, greenest, and freshest leaves.»
The Aymaras in Chucuito (Puno) and the Q’eros in Paucartambo (Cusco) use kintus with three leaves in their rituals. In the kintu with three leaves there are associated symbolisms: the first leaf represents the male divinities (world above, Hanan Pacha), the second to the feminine (world below, Pachamama, Uku Pacha) and the third to humanity (present world, Kay Pacha).
The American botanist Timothy Plowman, a coca scholar, in his 1984 article entitled The ethnobotany of coca describes the Andean ceremony in assembling the kintu:
The first step is to select two or three leaves from the coca bag. These are known as k’intu. They are carefully placed one on top of the other by holding them between the index finger and thumb. The k’intu is brought in front of the mouth and blown gently, at the same time the coconut tree invokes the deities and spirits of the mountains and local sacred places. This act is called pukuy. The leaves can then be used for chacchado or crushed to be blown into the wind with further invocations.
Opportunities for tourists to witness a Kintu?
This symbolic Andean ceremony is carried out in all the treks to Machu Picchu, since in all the trekking routes, Inca and Andean places are crossed, considered sacred by the local populations.
This ceremony is also performed in the spiritual retreats of Ayahuasca, Wachuma and other sacred plants.
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