Tuesday 21 May 2024

Were Viracocha of the pre Inca and Incas and Viracol/Virakhod of India, same?

 Subhashis Das


Left: Viracocha of Peru on a standing stone (credit: Pinterest). Right: a standing stone (menhir) called Viracol/Birakhod/Birdiri in India. 


Could Viracocha of the Incas in South America and Viracol (Virakol)/Birakol or Viracod/Birakhod of India represented as menhirs be of same origin?


Viracocha, also called Weiraquocha etc was a pre-Incan God who was later absorbed into the Inca fold. Inca beliefs confirm that Viracocha made the earth and the sky and it was he who taught them the various facets of civilization and culture.
He is also represented in the bearded form on tall standing stones known as menhirs which are sacred to the Incas. 


Strangely the tall standing stones (menhirs) are called with names close to Viracocha as Viracol (Virakohl)/Birakhol, Virakallu/Birakallu, Birdiri and Virakhod/Birakhod by both the megalithic tribals and the non-tribals in large parts of India.


 Megalithism is a cultural and a civilizational phenomenon that once flourished during times of prehistory all over the globe and which still does in India of which menhir is an accessory. Megaliths were known with different names all over the globe.


 We however have no evidence to suggest that Viracol (Virakol) was a God of the megalithic tribals in India; nonetheless etymologically Viracocha and Viracol (Virakol) are dissimilar.
 However the near similar pronunciation of the words and they being represented as/on menhirs and they being sacred to both the Incas and Indian tribals does put forth several questions;  could Viracocha and Viracol (Virakol) despite being separated by thousands of miles and being of near identical articulation be the same or of  the same origin?

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