The base of Purmamarca’s seven coloured mountain
The mountain of seven colours is the the kaleidoscopic backdrop to the town of Purmamarca, Jujuy province. The town is built out of locally made adobe bricks giving it the curious appearance of fading into the base of the hills. In fact, during siesta time, it is so quiet it might as well be part of the hills. However, outside of the siesta, the town is as colourful as the mountain that looks over it. Particularly during Carnival when the whole town goes wild for a week in a fantastic mixture of indigenous and catholic beliefs: the Devil is dug up and then buried again, there are offerings to the Pachamama (the Earth mother), a special service is held in the town’s pretty little church (whose interior is made almost entirely from Cactus wood) and, of course, everyone dresses up and throws flour at each other.
The colourful carnival beneath Argentina’s most colourful mountain
Like much of the northwest, Purmamarca and its colourful mountain have seen more than their fair share of history. Viltipoco was one of great indigenous chieftains of the region, at the base of the mountain of seven colours he amassed 10,000 warriors, around an ancient Algarrobo tree, to fight against the Spanish. They were not so much upset by having the Spanish lord over them, the Incas had already been doing so for some time, rather it was in reaction to how appallingly they were being treated by the Spanish. Unfortunately, like so many of America’s indigenous leaders, Viltipoco did not end well. His army was defeated and then he was betrayed and caught sleeping under the same tree where he had first grouped his army together.
The 500 year old witness of Chief Viltipoco’s rise and fall
