La Achirana del Inca is located 18 km northeast of the city of Ica, approximately 15 minutes by car. It is an irrigation canal built during the Inca era under the rule of Inca Pachacutec, over 500 years old. We want to share this beautiful Peruvian tradition as narrated by the renowned Ricardo Palma, who explains the story behind its name. Don’t miss it!
La Achirana del Inca
(To Teodorico Olaechea)
In 1412, Inca Pachacutec, accompanied by his son, the imperial prince Yupanqui, and his brother Capac Yupanqui, set out to conquer the Ica Valley. The valley’s inhabitants, though peaceful by nature, were not without resources and willingness to defend themselves. The wise monarch understood this and, before resorting to war, proposed that the people of Ica submit to his paternal rule. They willingly agreed, and the Inca and his forty thousand warriors were warmly and lavishly welcomed by the locals.
While exploring the fertile territory he had just brought under his control, Pachacutec spent a week in a place called Tate. The owner of this land was an elderly woman who lived with her beautiful daughter.
The great conqueror, who had subdued many peoples, thought he could just as easily conquer the young woman’s heart. However, she, deeply in love with a local man, found the courage, inspired only by true love, to resist the amorous advances of the renowned and all-powerful sovereign.
In the end, Pachacutec gave up hope of winning her over. Taking the young woman’s hands in his, he said, not without stifling a sigh:
“Remain at peace, dove of this valley, and may the mist of sorrow never veil the sky of your soul. Ask me for a gift, one that will always remind you and your people of the love you have inspired in me.”
“Great lord,” she replied, kneeling and kissing the hem of his royal cloak, “you are mighty, and nothing is impossible for you. Your nobility could have conquered me if my soul were not already enslaved to another.
I have no requests, for accepting gifts would bind me to you. But if it pleases you to have the gratitude of my people, I ask that you provide water to this land. Sow blessings, and you will reap a harvest of gratitude. Reign, my lord, over grateful hearts rather than over men who bow timidly before you, dazzled by your splendor.”
“Wise are your words, maiden of the raven-black hair, and you captivate me as much with your speech as with the fire in your eyes. Farewell, fleeting dream of my life! Wait ten days, and you shall see your wish fulfilled. Farewell, and do not forget your king.”
With that, the gallant monarch ascended the golden litter carried on the shoulders of the kingdom’s nobles and continued his triumphant journey.
For the next ten days, the forty thousand soldiers of his army worked tirelessly to carve out a channel. Beginning in the Molino and Trapiche lands and ending in Tate—the land of the young woman who had won Pachacutec’s heart—the channel was completed.
The water from La Achirana del Inca provides abundant irrigation to estates now known as Chabalina, Belén, San Jerónimo, Tacama, San Martín, Mercedes, Santa Bárbara, Chamchajaya, Santa Elena, Vista Alegre, Sáenz, Parcota, Tayamana, Pongo, Pueblo Nuevo, Sonumpe, and finally Tate.
According to tradition, this is the origin of La Achirana, a name that means "that which flows cleanly toward what is beautiful."
Peruvian Traditions by Ricardo Palma
Volume II
Espasa-Calpe, S.A., Madrid, 1946
Taken from the newsletter elpiscoesdelperu.com may 2007
May 2007
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