Every year, a week before the Christian feast of Corpus Christi, tens of thousands of pilgrims climb high into the Peruvian Andes where the Sinakara Valley hosts Qoyllur Rit'i - the Snow Star Festival. Held under a full moon, the Catholic celebrations are infused with pre-Christian traditions. (Image 1/20) (Photography by Timothy Allen)
The pilgrims tend to come from rural communities and include dancers and musicians. The Catholic side of the festival dates from the late 1700s, when an image of Jesus is said to have appeared on a boulder after the death of a young shepherd boy. The pre-Christian elements are partly based on reverence for the Pleiades star constellation, which disappears and reappears in the Southern Hemisphere at this time of the year and is linked to hopes of an abundant harvest. (Image 2/20)
The main camp, known as the Sanctuary, is in the upper region of the Sinakara Valley. It is 4,700m above sea level and many pilgrims prepare for the change in altitude by drinking coca tea or chewing coca leaves. Above the valley sit sacred glaciers on Mount Qullqip'unqu. (Image 3/20)
The route up to the Sanctuary is dotted with crosses where Christian pilgrims show reverence by lighting candles and saying prayers. (Image 4/20)
The use of whips at Qoyllur Rit'i is common. Elders give out ceremonial punishment to young pilgrims who break the strict rules of the religious festival. Groups also take part in ritualistic whip fights. (Image 5/20)
The masked machulas represent the nawpa machus - the mythical first inhabitants of the Andes. Speaking in squeaky, high-pitched voices, their split personalities swing between playing the role of jesters and policemen - joking with pilgrims one minute then reprimanding those who forget to follow festival rules the next. (Image 6/20)
When the pilgrims arrive at the Sanctuary, a huge tented village springs up, with food stalls and restaurants. Even fresh fish is available, carried up to the site live in barrels of water on the backs of donkeys. (Image 7/20)
At the Sanctuary, pilgrims can visit the unorthodox Albacitas market where they can buy piles of fake money or miniature replicas of things they would like to manifest in real life. (Image 8/20)
Divided into so called "nations", the groups that come to the Sinakara Valley are invited by the Brotherhood of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'i, a volunteer body that organises the event and imposes strict rules for attendees - alcohol is banned. (Image 9/20)
For the Christian participants of Qoyllur Rit'i, the highlight comes when the crosses are carried up even higher to the sacred glaciers above the valley. This is done by a group dressed as Ukukus - mythical half-man-half-bear characters. (Image 10/20)
The Ukukus dress in dark woollen clothes and masks. Regulars are quick to point out the decline in the size of the glaciers in recent decades, and say the ice has receded considerably. (Image 11/20)
In days gone by, Ukukus wore football boots to stop them slipping on the ice but nowadays professional climbers with ropes and crampons assist them. (Image 12/20)
Crosses are placed in the glacier and left overnight, traditionally surrounded by a candlelit shrine. But in recent years, as a nod to the receding glaciers, large candles have been banned. (Image 13/20)
After leaving their crosses in the ice, groups of Ukukus descend to the base of the glacier to spend the night together huddled around candles. (Image 14/20)
Dawn breaks and the Ukukus climb back up to retrieve their crosses. In procession, they then head back to the waiting crowds in the valley. Pilgrims used to cut chunks of ice from the glacier to use in church fonts as holy water but the practice has been banned because of the shrinking glacial mass. (Image 15/20)
At first light, the arrival of the crosses back at the Sanctuary is cause for great celebration. Pilgrims must then prepare themselves for a day-long procession to Tayancani. (Image 16/20)
After a morning mass, the procession leaves the Sanctuary and makes its way for seven hours or so, past lagoons and through valleys, until it reaches the small settlement of Yanacocha. Most groups rest there for three or four hours until nightfall. (Image 17/20)
The journey from Yanacocha to the church in the village of Tayancani must be undertaken in the dark. The light from the pilgrims' torches snakes through the mountains for eight hours under the stars. (Image 18/20)
Just before dawn, the pilgrims stop outside Tayancani and wait for the first rays of sunlight to break over the horizon - a sun-greeting ceremony is performed by those who celebrate old Incan spiritual beliefs. (Image 19/20)
In its colourful, eclectic, contemporary incarnation, today's Qoyllur Rit'i festival honours not only Jesus, but also the mountain gods (or apus) that South Americans worshipped long before Christianity's arrival on the continent. These photos were taken in 2014 - this year's festival will be held at the beginning of June. (Image 20/20) (Photography by Timothy Allen - all images subject to copyright)
