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Cultural Diversity
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Cultural diversity
Due to its close proximity to the Peruvian border both Aymara, the original indigenous culture of Bolivia’s altiplano, and the invading Inca Quechua culture from Peru are found within Apolobamba. Until more recently, the area’s isolation from modern life has enabled this cultural diversity to be conserved intact over the centuries.
The Kallawaya
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| Apolobamba is also home to the Kallawaya, the traditional herbal medicine men, famous the Andes. For centuries they have wandered through the area collecting herbs and plants from the huge variety provided by the natural diversity of the region, and often travelled by foot vast distances throughout South America healing. They also perform sacred rites in honour of ‘Pachamama’, the Andean earth goddess and predict the future by reading coca leaves. Kallawaya practices, used in the service of the Inca emperors, have existed unchanged in the region for centuries and in 2003 the Andean Cosmovision of the Kallawaya was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. |