Ayar Auca- Inca HeroHero

The Warrior Brother

Ayar Auca, whose name means "enemy" or "warrior," emerged from the central window of Tambo Toco alongside his brothers Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, and Ayar Uchu, and their four sister-wives. Together they set out from Pacaritambo to find the place where they would found their kingdom. But the journey was not meant for all four brothers. Ayar Cachi, whose sling could shatter mountains, was lured back into the cave and sealed inside by his frightened siblings. At the hill of Huanacauri, Ayar Uchu climbed to the summit and was turned to stone, becoming a sacred huaca. The road to Cusco consumed the brothers one by one. By the time the remaining siblings neared the valley, only Ayar Auca and Ayar Manco still walked among the living.

The Flight

At the critical moment, Ayar Auca's body changed. Wings sprouted from his shoulders, and he rose into the air above the migration, soaring over the heads of his brother and sisters toward the valley of Cusco. He flew ahead alone, covering in minutes the ground the others would walk in days, and came down in the valley where the capital would stand.

The moment his feet touched the earth, he turned to stone.

The Stone at Cusco

Ayar Auca's petrified form became a huaca, a sacred object rooted in the ground at the precise site where the Inca capital would be built. When Ayar Manco arrived at last, the only surviving brother, he found the stone waiting: proof that the land had been chosen and claimed. Manco Capac, as he would now be called, built the city around his brother's stone form.