Part Three: Machu Picchu, Blessed with Truth
It´s extremely difficult to write about Machu Picchu without over-dosing the reader on cliches. Most at one time were original and interesting descriptions. Within the chamber of time, however, truthful original statements become mundanities. The truth that underlies must cliches makes it tough to escape the writing-plague of the cliche doldrums and come up with an original description. Most cliches about Machu Picchu are totally deserved and valid which leaves me strapped and bound o the table of writer's block.
Many have advised me just to write from the heart. But when the words wiggle their way out of y heart and out of my hand onto paper, they are nearly always cliches, and certainly always trite. Through this struggle I've realized that squandering desperately to come up with an original metaphor or description for the incomprehensible beauty of Machu Picchu would be to commit an act of vanity. To feign I could do justice to the mystical terrain of Machu Picchu with original sentences and words would be to deceive myself. The difficulty of relaying the magic of Machu Picchu is no boorish lack of inspiration, but rather an admittance of the impossibility to capture the astonishing accomplishments of a yet mysterious civilization within written word. The fact is, Machu Picchu is astonishing and it is ultimately irrelevant how many ineffective or effective descriptions I write. No matter what, much will be lacking and left out.
So, here goes:
Participating in a guided tour at Machu Picchu was informative, but I by far preferred ambling around uncontrolled by the dictates of time after the tour's completion. For me, the main benefit of the tour was orientation within the ruins that later would allow me to tarry with confidence. During the tour we visited several distinct areas of the ancient sacred city. The ruins that were once a city preserved for the most prestigious members of Incan society include separate agricultural, ceremonial, residential, etc. sectors.
Once the tour was over though, more questions boomed in my brain than before the tour had began. By the end of my entire stay in Cuzco, after visits to several ruins, I remained with the impression that no history book or guide is capable of giving a complete picture of the Incan civilization and it´s history. The more you learn, the more you realize how much you actually do not and never will know. Ultimately each person becomes engaged in deducing for themselves what they do and don´t choose to believe. The many myths surrounding Machu Picchu: the possibilities of secret tunnels between sacred cities, or of other undiscovered sacred cities, teases the likes of the strictly methodical as well as the likes of the dreamers of the possible to discover some firm ground for conjecture.
Ultimately I found my own personal vacillation between the truths and possible truths of the Incan Civilization and their remains the most engaging part of Machu Picchu. The amount of questions that still surround a civilization so recently eliminated (although of course Incan descendants still remain an active part of Peruvian/Ecuadorian/Bolivian culture) are a testament to the complex sophistication of that culture.
As Eli and I perused the ancient Incan streets of Machu Picchu, the flawless masonry was first to grab my attention. Incan masonry displays a certain aesthetic and structural perfection that defies that of the common 4-angle stone or brick. The stones ranging from one meter to cover four meters in size and range from trapezoidal to 12-sided polygonal. The multi-sized and multi-shaped stones are cut with angles so that they fit together like puzzle pieces. When compared to a wall made of rectangular stones the polygonal shapes of the stones provide more structural integrity. On May 21st of 1950 when a major earthquake struck Cuzco, the Domincan Priory and Church of Santo Domingo were both badly destroyed. The crumbled Spanish architecture was juxtaposed atop the massive stone walls of the ancient Incan Temple of the Sun which firmly withstood the earthquake. These Incans knew what they were doing.
The masonry at Machu Picchu made me wonder if the Incan population was genetically afflicted with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I write that with all due respect. I just wonder how the heck such precise, tedious functional beauty could be constructed without a genetic predisposition for hyper-perfection.
An alternative to this hypothesis is an Incan reverence for all forms and branches of life. Within Machu Picchu there is a Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun) designed so each year on summer solstice the sun shines right through, a Templo del Sol (Temple of the Sun) for worshipping the sun, a giant semi-abstract sculpture of the condor, deity of the sky. Numerous edifices seem constructed to worship nature's inherent wonder and beauty. I believe Incans also were animists, believing all things have a divine spirit or soul (from rocks to llamas).
These two hypotheses aren't mutually exclusive of course. It is entirely possible, perhaps even probable, the Incans were Obsessive-Compulsive animists. Who knows. Ultimately, I remain with such a sense of bewilderment that my Machu Picchu experience feels incomplete. Don't get me wrong, it was positively awesome. It's just that my curiosity had been so stimulated that I feel a need to return (possibly several times) just to see Machu Picchu with a different set of eye's.
It´s extremely difficult to write about Machu Picchu without over-dosing the reader on cliches. Most at one time were original and interesting descriptions. Within the chamber of time, however, truthful original statements become mundanities. The truth that underlies must cliches makes it tough to escape the writing-plague of the cliche doldrums and come up with an original description. Most cliches about Machu Picchu are totally deserved and valid which leaves me strapped and bound o the table of writer's block.
Many have advised me just to write from the heart. But when the words wiggle their way out of y heart and out of my hand onto paper, they are nearly always cliches, and certainly always trite. Through this struggle I've realized that squandering desperately to come up with an original metaphor or description for the incomprehensible beauty of Machu Picchu would be to commit an act of vanity. To feign I could do justice to the mystical terrain of Machu Picchu with original sentences and words would be to deceive myself. The difficulty of relaying the magic of Machu Picchu is no boorish lack of inspiration, but rather an admittance of the impossibility to capture the astonishing accomplishments of a yet mysterious civilization within written word. The fact is, Machu Picchu is astonishing and it is ultimately irrelevant how many ineffective or effective descriptions I write. No matter what, much will be lacking and left out.
So, here goes:
Participating in a guided tour at Machu Picchu was informative, but I by far preferred ambling around uncontrolled by the dictates of time after the tour's completion. For me, the main benefit of the tour was orientation within the ruins that later would allow me to tarry with confidence. During the tour we visited several distinct areas of the ancient sacred city. The ruins that were once a city preserved for the most prestigious members of Incan society include separate agricultural, ceremonial, residential, etc. sectors.
Once the tour was over though, more questions boomed in my brain than before the tour had began. By the end of my entire stay in Cuzco, after visits to several ruins, I remained with the impression that no history book or guide is capable of giving a complete picture of the Incan civilization and it´s history. The more you learn, the more you realize how much you actually do not and never will know. Ultimately each person becomes engaged in deducing for themselves what they do and don´t choose to believe. The many myths surrounding Machu Picchu: the possibilities of secret tunnels between sacred cities, or of other undiscovered sacred cities, teases the likes of the strictly methodical as well as the likes of the dreamers of the possible to discover some firm ground for conjecture.
Ultimately I found my own personal vacillation between the truths and possible truths of the Incan Civilization and their remains the most engaging part of Machu Picchu. The amount of questions that still surround a civilization so recently eliminated (although of course Incan descendants still remain an active part of Peruvian/Ecuadorian/Bolivian culture) are a testament to the complex sophistication of that culture.
As Eli and I perused the ancient Incan streets of Machu Picchu, the flawless masonry was first to grab my attention. Incan masonry displays a certain aesthetic and structural perfection that defies that of the common 4-angle stone or brick. The stones ranging from one meter to cover four meters in size and range from trapezoidal to 12-sided polygonal. The multi-sized and multi-shaped stones are cut with angles so that they fit together like puzzle pieces. When compared to a wall made of rectangular stones the polygonal shapes of the stones provide more structural integrity. On May 21st of 1950 when a major earthquake struck Cuzco, the Domincan Priory and Church of Santo Domingo were both badly destroyed. The crumbled Spanish architecture was juxtaposed atop the massive stone walls of the ancient Incan Temple of the Sun which firmly withstood the earthquake. These Incans knew what they were doing.
The masonry at Machu Picchu made me wonder if the Incan population was genetically afflicted with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I write that with all due respect. I just wonder how the heck such precise, tedious functional beauty could be constructed without a genetic predisposition for hyper-perfection.
An alternative to this hypothesis is an Incan reverence for all forms and branches of life. Within Machu Picchu there is a Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun) designed so each year on summer solstice the sun shines right through, a Templo del Sol (Temple of the Sun) for worshipping the sun, a giant semi-abstract sculpture of the condor, deity of the sky. Numerous edifices seem constructed to worship nature's inherent wonder and beauty. I believe Incans also were animists, believing all things have a divine spirit or soul (from rocks to llamas).
These two hypotheses aren't mutually exclusive of course. It is entirely possible, perhaps even probable, the Incans were Obsessive-Compulsive animists. Who knows. Ultimately, I remain with such a sense of bewilderment that my Machu Picchu experience feels incomplete. Don't get me wrong, it was positively awesome. It's just that my curiosity had been so stimulated that I feel a need to return (possibly several times) just to see Machu Picchu with a different set of eye's.
posted by Jojo at 3:15 PM
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