Pututu

The strombus shell, called pututu has been used throughout the world since ancient times. The pre-Incan Moche civilization worshipped the sea and often depicted conch shells in their art. Quetzalcoatl, the Mexican god of wind and learning, wears around his neck the "wind shell" ehecailacocozcatl, made of a conch shell. In Buddhism, the conch shell was included as one of the eight symbols of good luck. In Hinduism, the god of preservation, Vishnu, is said to hold a special conch, panchajanya, which represents life because it comes from life-giving water.

Strombus shells possibly symbolized patterns found in whirlwinds, dust devils, shells, and whirlpools, elemental forces that had significance in the religious mythology of most ancient people.

They were used to announce and summon the coming of special spiritual events, they were used as musical instruments, as a means of healing and therapy. All this thanks to the spiral shape of their sound, which corresponds to an expansion like the Big Bang in the macrocosm and our own auditory system in the human microcosm.

In some ceremonies it was used symbolically for the call of the condor (spirit of Kuntur).

The pututu has always been used to appease evil spirits through harmonious sounds and to sensitize the senses. In musical instruments, the snail forms the beginning so that the gods can hear the music dedicated to them, and it is also used at the end to thank them for being heard.

Text: Qosqo Pututu Q'epachi