The Sacredness of Pampapu as a Religious Healing Ritual in the Andean Worldview

This work focuses on the study of traditional Andean therapeutic knowledge of spirituality, understood as current practices that articulate health, territory, and sacredness. In a setting invaded by modernity and conventional medicine, Pampapu survives as a healing ritual that expresses a symbolic and spiritual relationship with the Earth and Andean deities. The objective is to understand the religious, cultural, and symbolic meanings that the inhabitants attribute to this ritual. It was carried out using qualitative research methods with an ethnographic and interpretive approach, based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with traditional healers, older adults, and patients’ families. Thematic and hermeneutic analysis confirmed categories such as sacredness, illness of the Earth, generational transmission, and religious syncretism. The results show that the ritual fulfills therapeutic functions, identity, and social cohesion, and is transmitted through generations. It is concluded that this practice constitutes a living expression of the Andean religious worldview and an essential component of intangible cultural heritage.