“We greet Ch’alla Tuesday with great faith and hope, a tradition that allows us to give thanks for the blessings of Mother Earth, certain that better days are to come for our beloved homeland. Let’s move forward!” the head of state wrote on his Twitter account.
For his part, Morales explained on this social network that “this Ch’alla Tuesday we join our sisters and brothers who give thanks to God and Pachamama for all their gifts and benefits in work, health and economy.” .
The leader of the Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for Peoples’ Sovereignty (MAS-IPSP) added that Bolivia is “a believing, dignified and respectful people of its traditions. May all celebrations be in moderation.
La Ch’alla is an Andean tradition practiced on the first Tuesday after Carnaval in reciprocity with Pachamama or Mother Earth and consists of the act of watering the ground or some other commodity with alcohol and other symbolic elements.
In the countryside, it is essentially characterized by covering the earth with flower petals and burying a pot with boiled potatoes, cigarettes, coca leaves and alcohol to feed the Pachamama while participants drink and perform songs and dances.
The townspeople, on the other hand, decorate their belongings (house, shop, car and other assets) with colored streamers and sprinkle alcohol, golden grains, flower petals and candies on them in the four corners.
A common element in this ritual is the table or apxata, a colorful altar where offerings are made; It is covered with a colorful aguayo, or blanket, and placed on top are fruits, candies, spices, muesli, candy, nuts, wine, liquor, flower petals, streamers, and a llama fetus.
All of these elements are burned to incense those present with aromatic koa wood and palo santo, which are then buried with the aim of “feeding” the earth.
Rural and city people use firecrackers during the ceremony because noise is believed to drive away evil ajayus (spirits), according to Bolivian beliefs.
Food is a central element in challah, and each region has a distinctive dish for this celebration; At the Altiplano, the ancestral aptapi is shared, a communal snack on a long carpet, with each guest bringing different dishes.
The economic benefits of the change process led by MAS-IPSP will be evident on this day as men and women fill the malls in search of elements with which to bring more color and clarity to their way of worshiping, asking, thanking and nurturing, the Pachamama.
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