Sajama is god of Aymara tradition.
Bolivia’s highest mountain, in myth a severed head.
At about 6542 metres, Sajama is Bolivia’s highest mountain, an extinct stratovolcano in the country’s oldest national park and a sacred Achachila. Numerous archaeological sites lie on its slopes, and living veneration is documented to this day.
The beheading legend gives him his place in myth: Sajama is said to be the severed head of Mururata, the beheaded one, hurled far across the Altiplano. As recently as 1997, a religious ceremony was held before an ice core drilling, so as not to anger the mountain deities.
Type: Highest mountain Achachila of Bolivia, extinct stratovolcano
Origin: Aymara region in the Department of Oruro, Bolivia
Texts: pre-Inca archaeology, ethnography of the living cult
Period: Late Intermediate Period to the present
Appearance: near-perfect, ice-covered volcanic cone
The surrounding area is pre-Inca: around forty archaeological sites, mostly from the Late Intermediate Period, surround the mountain; the cult lives on to this day.
The Department of Oruro near the Chilean border; the mountain gave its name to Bolivia’s oldest national park.
Well documented: archaeology and the living cult are recorded; however, the mountain-specific offering ethnography remains thinner than that of Illimani.
Aymara: The etymology is disputed. Suggestions include an Aymara term meaning west, as well as the popular interpretation the exile or the expelled one, which fits the beheading legend.
Appearance
Sajama is a near-perfect, ice-covered cone, visible from afar and depicted on the Bolivian fifty-boliviano banknote. At its foot, the tree Polylepis tarapacana grows at the highest tree line on Earth.
Effect
As an Achachila, Sajama is a protective lord and master over water and weather. The beheading legend makes him the severed head of Mururata, hurled far across the Altiplano by Illimani or, in popular versions, by the Creator; the neighbouring Payachatas are considered children of Sajama and Anallaxchi.
The key aspects of the highest mountain Achachila at a glance.
Highest mountain Achachila of Bolivia, surrounded by chullpa burial towers and pukara fortifications from pre-Inca times.
Water and weather for the region; as a national symbol, his significance extends as far as the fifty-boliviano banknote.
Near-perfect, ice-covered volcanic cone above the Puna, with the highest tree line on Earth at its foot.
Protective Achachila and lord of weather; in myth the severed head of Mururata and, with Anallaxchi, parent of the Payachatas.
Waxtʼa and mesa with coca leaves, llama fat, llama foetus and alcohol; Sajama is named in the invocations.
Sajama is not Tunupa: the volcano at the Salar de Uyuni is a different mountain and considerably lower.
The etymology is disputed; suggestions include an Aymara term meaning West as well as the popular interpretation of the banished or expelled one, fitting the beheading legend: Sajama is said to be the severed head of Mururata, hurled far across the Altiplano.
The mountain lies in the Department of Oruro near Chile and is surrounded by around forty archaeological sites, including chullpa burial towers and pukara fortifications, mostly from the Late Intermediate Period. How seriously the mountain’s sacredness is still taken today was shown in 1997: before an ice core drilling, a religious ceremony was held so as not to anger the mountain deities.
Sajama became scientifically known through the 1997 ice core climate archive and drew media attention in 2001 due to a high-altitude football match; tourism in the national park is growing.
In religious studies, Sajama is the highest mountain achachila in Bolivia, set within an archaeologically rich environment. Three clarifications: Sajama is not Tunupa, and the 6542 metres belong to Sajama, not to the Volcán Tunupa. No confirmed Capacocha summit find exists; what is documented are pre-Inca chullpas and pukaras at its foot. And it should not be confused with Illimani, since Sajama is a volcano in Oruro, whereas Illimani is not a volcano and lies near La Paz.
Documented are the usual Aymara forms of the waxtʼa and the mesa with coca leaves, llama fat, llama foetus and alcohol; Sajama is named in the invocations. The mountain-specific offering ethnography is thinner than for the Illimani, though; that belongs honestly to the record. Still, the fact that a ceremony was held specifically before the 1997 ice core drilling shows how present the respect for the mountain has remained.
How high is Sajama?
About 6542 metres; it is the highest mountain in Bolivia, an extinct stratovolcano.
What does the beheading legend say?
Sajama is regarded as the severed head of Mount Mururata, hurled far across the Altiplano.
Are there Capacocha finds?
No confirmed summit find; documented are pre-Inca chullpas and pukaras at its foot.
Recommended internal links:
Further standard works in the bibliography.
As the highest mountain in Bolivia and both an achachila and a volcano in one, Sajama unites myth, archaeology and climate research on a single peak above the Puna.
Against its influence, cross-cultural tradition names these protective means:
Compare in the Protection Compass →Recommended protective means
The simplest protective means in this collection: 41 layers of fine gold 999, platinum, silver and silicon, manufactured in Ruhla, Thuringia. It requires no activation, is bound to no person, and is effective within a radius of around 50 meters, even without being worn.
Baal-Hammon is the supreme male deity of Carthage, consort of Tanit and recipient of the Tophet d...
Odqan, the fire deity and lord of the hearth fire of Mongolia. Origin, the sacred golomt, the fir...
Personification of death, son of Nyx, brother of Hypnos. Black wings, inverted torch, a gentle pa...
Pesanta, the Catalan nightmare-pressing spirit in dog form. Origin, the pressure on the chest, it...
Yee Naaldlooshii, the malevolent skin-walker of Diné witchcraft. Origin, the taboo surrounding it...
Vellamo, the Finnish mistress of water and consort of Ahti. Origin, fishing cult, symbolism and t...
