Celebrating New Year's Eve In Bolivia: Unique Traditions And Customs

Bolivia is a multicultural country, with 55% of its population being indigenous. As such, it is home to a variety of new year celebrations. One of the biggest events in the Bolivian calendar is the Aymara New Year, which falls on June 21st and coincides with the winter solstice. The Aymara people, who make up 25% of Bolivia's population, gather at the ancient pre-Incan ruins of Tiwanaku to welcome the new year. The celebration includes colourful ceremonial clothing, drinking singani, chewing coca, sacrificing llamas, and dancing until dawn. On January 1st, Bolivia also celebrates the new year in a similar way to many other countries, with a focus on spending time with family and friends, eating traditional foods, and making wishes for the year ahead.

The Aymara New Year is celebrated on 21 June, marking the start of the Aymaran year

Bolivia is known for its customs and traditions, and one of the biggest events in its calendar is the Aymara New Year. The Aymara are Indians from the northern Andean region of Bolivia, and they also spread to northwestern Argentina, northern Chile, and Peru. They are believed to be descendants of the Tiwanaku, a pre-Inca civilization. The Aymara New Year is celebrated on 21 June, marking the start of the Aymaran year.

On the night of 20 June, the people are called together by wise men (yatiris) and Andean priests (amautas) to say goodbye to the old year. The group gathers around a ceremonial table with coca, alcohol, and other elements of Andean rites. They keep vigil throughout the night until the sun emits its first rays on 21 June. The first rays of sunshine are reflected at precise places in sacred Tiwanaku sites. The ruins of Tiwanaku are the best-known remnant of this civilization, as they are very close to La Paz and were once an ancient sacred city of great importance.

The first part of the celebration is led by shamans, who perform different phases in the temples oriented to the place where the sun and moon rise. The celebration is full of magic, dances, and traditional music, along with a rainbow of colours formed by local attire. The shamans break the silence at 7 am to start the ceremony in Kalasasaya, the temple of the Sun God. They welcome the new cycle and thank the sun. Then, they begin to dance in a circle on the sacrificial platform, burning all the bad things from the previous year to accumulate hope and good energy.

The Aymara New Year is a public holiday in Bolivia, and the country's president, who is of Aymara origin, declared that 21 June would be celebrated as a national holiday. However, this holiday is controversial, as Bolivia is a multicultural country with dozens of native cultures, and some people are against the idea of having the rituals of only one culture imposed upon all the others.

The date is derived from the year Columbus landed in the Americas, plus 5,1000-year cycles of the Aymara calendar

Bolivia's Aymara New Year is a public holiday celebrated on 21 June, coinciding with the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The date is derived from the year Columbus arrived in the Americas, plus 5,000 years from the 1000-year cycles of the Aymara calendar.

The Aymara people, who inhabit the west of Bolivia and southern Peru, have a unique perception of time. They view the future as something behind them and the past as something they look forward to. As they step backwards into the future, the unseen events ahead slowly unfold and become the past.

The Aymara New Year is also known as 'Willkakuti', which translates to ''Return of the Sun'. The date marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of a new agricultural cycle. The Aymara people do not measure time by the Western system of 12 months and four seasons. Instead, they divide their calendar into two periods: the summer solstice (December to January) and the winter solstice (June to July). The latter ends on 21 June, when one solar year concludes, and a new one begins.

The Aymara New Year is celebrated in various locations across Bolivia, including Tiwanaku, Sorata, El Alto, Copacabana, the Valley of the Moon, Lake Titicaca, and Pasto Grande. The largest ceremony takes place at the archaeological site of Tiwanaku, where people gather from all over the world to witness the sun's rays shine through the temple's eastern entrance. The event is also celebrated in other countries like Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

The festivities include wearing colourful ceremonial clothing, drinking singani, chewing coca leaves, sacrificing llamas, and dancing until dawn. Tourists are welcome to join the celebrations and can purchase local art from artisan stalls. The rituals are led by amautas (Andean priests) and shamans, who make offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and Pachakama (the Universe) to bless the New Year.

People gather at the ruins of Tiwanaku to watch the sun rise through the temple entrance

Bolivia is known for its customs and traditions, and the people of this country like to thank Mother Earth and their ancestors. The indigenous Aymara people, who make up around 25% of the population, have a unique and special way of celebrating the New Year.

On the 21st of June, Bolivia observes a national holiday in recognition of the Aymara people who inhabit the west of the country and the south of Peru. The date marks the Aymaran New Year and coincides with the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. The Aymara stay awake all night to observe the first sunbeam of the Sun God and to start a new cycle. The Aymara New Year is also celebrated in other countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Peru, but the main celebration takes place in Tiwanaku, Bolivia.

One of the most popular places to bring in the Aymara New Year is the ancient pre-Incan ruins of Tiwanaku. People gather from all over the world to watch the sun rise through the temple entrance on the eastern side of the complex. The first rays of the sun passing through the temple entrance officially initiate a new agricultural cycle. Locals celebrate by wearing colourful ceremonial clothing, drinking singani, chewing coca, sacrificing llamas, and dancing until dawn. Tourists are welcome to join in the celebrations and can purchase local art from artisan stalls set up for the event. Special buses leave La Paz around 4 am to arrive in time for sunrise, and some people even camp outside the ruins a few days before the event.

The celebration begins at 5 am when people head to the ruins of Tiwanaku, where shamans and Aymara priests lead the first part of the ceremony in the temples oriented to the place where the sun and moon rise. The ceremony is filled with magic, dances, and traditional music, with a rainbow of colours formed by the local attire. At 7 am, the shamans break the silence to start the ceremony in Kalasasaya, the Temple of the Sun God, where they welcome the new cycle and thank the sun. They then begin to dance in a circle on the sacrificial platform, burning away the bad of the year symbolically and accumulating hope and good energy.

When the first ray of sunshine appears, the crowd concentrates at the Puerta del Sol with their hands in the air. After the prayers, music, dances, and parties take over the Aymara atmosphere.

The celebration includes colourful clothing, drinking singani, chewing coca, sacrificing llamas and dancing

Bolivia is known for its customs and traditions, and the people of this country like to thank Mother Earth and their ancestors. The Aymara New Year is one of the biggest events in the Bolivian calendar. It is celebrated on the 21st of June, coinciding with the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. This date marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of a new agricultural cycle.

The Aymara people wear colourful ceremonial clothing to celebrate the Aymara New Year. They drink singani and chew coca. Llamas are sacrificed to ensure prosperity, fertility of the land, and reproduction of life. The day is filled with festivities, including dancing.

The celebration begins on the night of the 20th of June. The people are called together by wise men (yatiris) and Andean priests (amautas). They gather to say goodbye to the old year around a ceremonial table with coca, alcohol, and other elements of Andean rites. A vigil is kept throughout the night until the sun emits its first rays on the 21st.

At 5 am, people head to the ruins of Tiwanaku, where shamans lead the first part of the celebration. The shamans perform different phases in the temples that are oriented to the place where the sun and moon rise. The celebration is filled with magic, dances, and traditional music.

At 7 am, the shamans break the silence to start the ceremony in Kalasasaya, the temple of the Sun God. They welcome the new cycle and thank the sun. They then begin to dance in a circle on the sacrificial platform, burning all the bad things from the previous year to accumulate hope and good energy. When the first ray of sunshine appears, the crowd concentrates at the Puerta del Sol with their hands in the air. After prayers, music, dances, and parties take over the Aymara atmosphere.

The Aymara people view the future as behind them and the past as something to look forward to

The Aymara people of the Andean highlands have a unique perspective on time. Unlike most cultures, which view the future as something ahead and the past as something behind, the Aymara reverse this perspective. This is believed to be influenced by their language, which uses the word "nayra", meaning "eye", "front", or "sight", to refer to the past, and "qhipa", meaning "back" or "behind", to refer to the future.

This cultural and cognitive-linguistic difference may have contributed to the conquistadors' disdain for the Aymara, seeing them as shiftless and uninterested in progress or moving forward. However, it is important to note that the Aymara have been able to preserve their language and culture despite Inca and Spanish invasions.

The Aymara New Year celebration on June 21st is a perfect example of how the Aymara view time differently. The celebration marks the return of the sun, the arrival of new energies, and the beginning of a new agricultural cycle. The Aymara stay awake all night to observe the first sunbeam of the Sun God, marking the start of a new cycle. This is a traditional celebration that has endured for centuries and is a significant part of Aymara culture and history.

The Aymara's view of time, with the future behind them and the past ahead, is a reflection of their cultural values and way of life. They place a strong emphasis on vision and whether an event has been seen or not. This is evident in their language, where speakers are required to specify if they personally witnessed an event or are reporting hearsay. By metaphorically facing the past, the Aymara are facing what has already been seen, which is logical within their cultural context.

The Aymara's concept of time as a mirror image of the typical forward-facing view held by most cultures is a fascinating aspect of their culture and language. It highlights the influence of language on our perception of time and the unique ways in which different cultures interpret and celebrate milestones, such as the New Year.

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