Ever since some European backpackers told me in broken English that “We make pictures at Penis temple”, I was curious to check that place out.
Inka Uyo
Chucuito (चुकुअीतो) is a little village about 18 km south of Puno along the coast of Lake Titicaca. There is nothing much to see here except for an archeological site called “Inca Uyo” (अीन्का अुयो). “Uyo”, in Quechuan (one of the original ‘native’ language of central Andes and the second largest spoken languages in Peru) literally means ‘penis’.
Dedicated to that idea, was the ancient Temple of Fertility at Chukuito. The site contains dozens of mushroom shaped erect penises few feet long. They are symbolically pointing towards the Inti (Sun God) and Pacha mama (Mother Earth).
Someone told me that on specific days, virgin women arrive here at night, perform rituals to the God of fertility and sit on the phalluses. It is a symbolic ritual to increase their fertility.
A fake site?
I was surprised that the Spanish left this site intact while they destroyed most of other Incan/Pagan temples. Infact, there is a large colonial church right next to this temple! The other thing I observed (and is quite obvious) was that the penises were circumcised… something that the Incas did not do. Some articles question the authenticity of the temple in its current form, although the authenticity of the stones itself is not questioned. Someone might just have rearranged and touristified what was otherwise a broken temple.
I purchased some phallic souvenirs and came back to Puno.
Look! A foreigner
Traveling with local people in the crowded Combi was the best part of this journey. They were all staring at me, watching my every action, and even laughing at my broken Spanish. 🙂 Earlier that day, a roadside banana seller told me in Spanish how to go to Chucoito (I was nodding as if I understood everything). From the local Collectivo stop in Puno, a ride to Chucuito costs only Uno (one) sol. The lady money collector however was teasing me and asking for “Uno Americano Dólar, Señor” (अुनो अामेरीकान्यो दोलर, सेन्योर) while I went “Si” (सी=yes) and joined the laughter.
A Collectivo could be any vehicle such as a bus, mini van or a car that is used for public transport. Specifically, a Combi is a shared taxi. The driver will wait until the vehicle is full and then leave. Often he will stuff more people in. Combi’s in Peru are the same as ‘Tuk-Tuk’ or ‘Phat-Phat’ (or any other names I dont know) in India or ‘Sherut’ in Israel or ‘Marshrutka’ in Russia or ‘Jitney’ in US/Canada.
The rest of the town is pretty much typical – A Plaza de Armas, Churches, few shops around and houses and fields.
Lovely pics….nice writing 🙂
Uyo, I mean, Ayyo..What a farm!!
Are the phallic souvenirs on display now that you are back in Toronto? That’s a nice shot inside the Combi.:)
Hee Heee…..
Worshiping of penis is something like worshiping shivalingam in some areas of India and the purpose is same.
I wonder how much more traffic you’ll get now. 😉
Ha Ha Ha…..
Well, well! What d’ya know? I thought we had the monopoly on phallic symbolism.
all civilisations are obsessed with fertility rites…
Looks like you are avid traveler. I liked this full series…..nice & enjoyable! Peru looks to be must to visit. Adding it to my list 🙂
Learn something new and interesting every single time I come here, Penis Temple, who knew,lol.
Cool! Maybe they collaborated with the people who built the Konark Temple 😛
Also, you don’t talk too much about food. What kinda stuff did you eat in all these places? How’s the street food?
that is a lot of peni (is that plural lol) I don’t even wan to know what that white stain is.
Interesting site….i saw a few fertility places in Asia..they’re all very symbolic huh
…and I thought they were mushrooms, lol. Thanks for sharing, great photography and story…Anna 🙂
Such temples exist in India though, although they dont carry phallic symbols , people believe that visiting some temples will make them fertile.
Interesting story btw lol…. u bought phallic souveneirs, who r u giving them to 🙂 ? and no offense…but didnt u get turned on 🙂
Meghna:
Thanks dear!
Cellu:
Yes, as a matter of fact I have a stone penis souvenir in my living room! It’s a topic of discussion usually.
Cuckoo
Yes, that was the whole point of this post. Even when I was visiting this place, I was thinking… hmm this would make a nice blog entry. hhehehe 🙂
Shivlinga is one of the dearest symbols of Hinduism. There are many more 🙂
Shantanu
I will write a post dedicated to food. I am not a big foodie liek you, plus being overly vegetarian restricts my diet in foreign countries.
Lakshmi
You couldn’t be right. Even in Tibet, I hear there is a (maybe there isn’t any after the Chinese destruction) a large temple dedicated to fertility.
Bob
Glad to hear that. You should visit India sometime 🙂
Sudipta
Konark? But thats a Sun temple. Did you mean Khajuraho?
Matt
LOL @ the white stain! Being the most basic human tendencies, its not surprising that most cultures love the reproductive organs 😉
Anna
Yeah, I have posted a picture of a penis on the sidewalk of the city square in this village. It does look like a mushroom, an innocent mind would be fooled 🙂 Peru, rather the entire south amerika, is worth visiting. Thanks for writing!
Maverick
Turned on? LOL by stone icons? hehehe, no that happens only with the real stuff 😉 I gave some as gifts to friends but the largest sculpture is sitting in my living room.
Annie
Yes do visit Peru, and the entire south america for that matter 🙂
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PHALLIC STONES ? or MUSHROOM STONES ?
At the Inca ruins of Chucuito in Peru, South America, not far from Lake Titicaca, we see stone objects that appear to resemble mushroom stones but are referred to by tour guides as phallic stones.
According to archaeologist Gordon F. Ekholm, in a letter to my father, Maya archaeologist Stephan F. de Borhegyi, that archaeologists Marion and Harry Tschopik found what they described as mushroom stones in the general fill at this Late Inca site on the shore of Lake Titicaca. One very interesting note about these ruins is that there is an Inca legend of White Men with beards who inhabited the shores of Lake Titicaca,… who built a great city, 2000 years before the time of the Incas. (Ekholm to Borhegyi, March 12, 1953, Borhegyi Archives, MPM)
My study was inspired by a theory first proposed over fifty years ago by my father, the late Maya archaeologist Dr. Stephan F. de Borhegyi, that hallucinogenic mushroom rituals were a central aspect of Maya religion. He based this theory on his identification of a mushroom stone cult that came into existence in the Guatemala Highlands and Pacific coastal area around 1000 B.C. along with a trophy head cult associated with human sacrifice and the Mesoamerican ballgame. He supported this theory with a solid body of archaeological and historical evidence.
Without doubt early man noticed the likeness of certain mushrooms to a human penis. This association could have led them to draw metaphors with fertility and birth. According to Mexican mythology, Quetzalcoatl created mankind and he did so from the blood he drew from his penis in the underworld. The photo of the tallest and most noticeable monument shown above appears to have a U-shaped cleft resembling the meatus of a penis. It could equally be Identified, however, as a well known Mesoamerican symbol of a portal or entrance into the underworld. I would argue that these stone statues actually represent mushrooms, some of which appear to have been ritually decapitated.
Ethno-mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson writes…
“If I were to postulate the nature of a mushroomic cult, it would be of an erotic or procreative character. Sahagun says that the narcotic mushroom incita a la lujuria,– excites lust. He described it in a dancing scene where it is eaten.” (Wasson to Borhegyi 3-27-1953)
There is also plenty of evidence of a trophy head cult in the archaeological record of South America. According to Andean researcher Christina Conlee (Texas State University) large numbers of decapitated heads or so-called trophy heads have been found in archaeological excavations in the area of Peru. At the archaeological site of Tihaunaco not far from Lake Titicaca, several dozen decapitated bodies were found in a burial arranged in a geometric layout, buried along side drinking vessels(Soma?)suggesting the act of ritual sacrifice.
Hey Carl,
Thankyou for further explanation on this topic. I am always fascinated by archeology and how there are multiple interpretations of a discovery. All the best.