The Carnival of Oruro is a religious and cultural festival in Oruro, Bolivia. It has been celebrated since the 18th century. Originally an indigenous festival, the celebration later was transformed to incorporate a Christian ritual around the Virgin of Candelaria. teleSUR
00:00 This table contains the evolution of almost a century of the Buen Vaz.
00:05 This carnival is not only from the colonial period as understood since the appearance of the Virgin Our Lady of the Socavón in 1739, but it is a process that may come before.
00:18 La Diablada is the origin of the Oruro Carnival. Its root predates Spanish colonialism.
00:23 The Oruros worshiped and deemed deities like the sun, the moon, lightning. They had Wari, a sorcerer who guided them towards evil and hatred.
00:31 But in Yusta, a young girl made him see their mistake.
00:34 Wari, who had personified himself in a sorcerer to teach them the path of evil, hate, sorcery, once the Oruros disobeyed Wari.
00:44 Wari gets angry and that's why he sends them these plagues.
00:48 Defeated, Wari was sent to the depths of the earth where he is revealed as the uncle of the mines.
00:54 He is the owner of the veins. We ask him with our respect day by day to take care of us, to give us a good order, good veins.
01:05 With our respect, we are entering your house so that you take care of us because in mining you don't know if when you go in you are going to come out again.
01:15 On Carnival Friday, tribute is paid to the uncle of the mines, the devil.
01:20 They invite him alcohol, coke and cigars that he consumes with pleasure.
01:24 Outside, white flames are sacrificed which have their still beating hearts removed and thrown into the drains.
01:31 These original indigenous who were not miners, forcibly converted into miners, decided to make their own god with the mud from the mine, which is very wet.
01:43 The clay from the mine they make a figurine but in human form.
01:48 Spanish colonialism forbid indigenous rights to its deities.
01:53 Then, they rescued them and took the advantage of them to evangelize.
01:57 They changed Wari for the devil and they used him for the virgin of Candelaria, who sent the archangel Gabriel to fight the demons.
02:04 Defeated them and confined them to the depths of the earth.
02:09 This pilgrimage is a promise to offer through dance, through dance our gratitude, our strength and faith in the love for the virgin, happy to get to your feet.
02:19 Here, angels and demons dance together and prostrate before the image of the virgin of the Socavón.
02:25 We left at two in the morning and now it is eight in the morning.
02:31 If I'm not wrong and with faith, we have arrived at the feet of the virgin.
02:37 There are 20 dances that are exhibited in the Oruro Carnival.
02:41 This year, the parade was long for 24 hours.
02:44 More than 50,000 dancers and 20,000 musicians participated and more than 300,000 tourists.
02:50 The Oruro Carnival is a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.
