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Photographs by Michael Bednar
www.michaelbednar.com
Qoyllur Rit'i ("Snow Star") is one of the largest and most sacred pilgrimages in the Andes, held annually in late May or early June near Mount Ausangate in Peru's Cusco region. Tens of thousands of Quechua and Aymara pilgrims journey to a glacial valley to venerate the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'i, an image of Christ said to have appeared on a sacred rock — making the festival a striking blend of Catholic devotion and pre-Hispanic Andean beliefs, where mountains and glaciers are honored as living, sacred beings (Apus).
The pilgrimage involves days of walking, all-night vigils, traditional dance, and music. Its
most distinctive figures are the Ukukus — costumed dancers who act as guardians of
the event and traditionally climb to the glaciers to retrieve sacred ice. Timed near the reappearance of the Pleiades constellation, the festival also marks a turning point in the Andean agricultural year, when communities seek blessings of renewal, protection, and abundance.
Recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Qoyllur Rit'i
remains one of the clearest living examples of how Indigenous Andean cosmology and
Catholicism coexist — a powerful expression of faith, identity, and connection to the land for the Quechua people.
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