Mama Zara- Inca GodDeity

Mother of the Golden Grain

Mama Zara was the goddess of maize, the crop most associated with Inca nobility and state power. Maize was the raw material for chicha, the fermented beverage essential to every ritual and diplomatic exchange. Its cultivation required warmer valleys and intensive labor, and its distribution was controlled by the state. Mama Zara's blessing determined whether harvests would be abundant or meager, whether the empire's storehouses would be full or depleted.

The Zaramama Dolls

Worship of Mama Zara took a distinctive material form: the creation of zaramama dolls, fashioned from the finest ears of corn from each year's harvest. Farmers selected ears that grew unusually, double ears, ears with stalks resembling human forms. These were dressed in miniature clothing, wrapped in fine textiles, and treated as physical manifestations of the maize goddess. Offerings of chicha and coca were made to these dolls throughout the year to ensure the next harvest's success. Arriaga documented the practice during his campaigns against indigenous religious practices, noting how tenaciously farming families preserved their zaramama dolls despite colonial prohibitions.