Celebration of Pawkar Raymi at the Pumapungo Museum

The 21 of March, the University of Azuay, the Quilloac Educational Units and La Asunción organized the celebration of the Pawkar Raymi, in the Pumapungo Museum, with the aim of creating intercultural spaces that contribute to the process of academic formation of the students and to rescue ancestral customs .

The event was attended by delegations of educational institutions and their respective authorities, also attended by Tamara Landivar, Executive Director of the Pumapungo Museum, and Felipe Abril, 6 zonal coordinator of the National Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENECYT).

Prior to the start of the central ceremony, students from the Tourism School of the UDA guided a tour of the museum's facilities.

After this, those attending the event went to one of the areas of the archaeological park where Andrés Quinde Pichasaca, Rector of the Intercultural Bilingual Institute Quilloac, gave a brief explanation about the meaning of the celebration:

"According to the Ouna calendar, March 21 represents the zero day on which the spring equinox is celebrated", thus Pawkar Raymi is defined as the festival of flowering where the Andean peoples thank the water that allows the harvest and have to start a new year.

According to Isidero Pichasaca, Rector of the Quillac Educational Unit, "Pawkar Raymi is a way of being happy with Mother Earth".

To begin the ceremony, the participants were placed around a set of elements considered sacred and after performing various rites, including the blessing of water, flowers and a clean of bad energies, representatives of the Quilloac Educational Unit They presented a traditional dance of the Cañari culture.          

Next, delegates from La Asunción made a musical intervention.

Finally, a pampa mesa (or community table) was held, in which all the attendees participated.

Regarding the event Patricia Arévalo, Vice President of La Asunción, said that these programs are important given that "they promote an inclusive society where cultural diversity is respected and valued".

 In turn, Ana María Durán, Liaison Coordinator of the Faculty of Philosophy, said that this project is part of the programs linked to society related to interculturality, which have two objectives: on the one hand, to rescue the language and the ancestral customs, and on the other hand use these aspects as "tools of cultural coexistence".