THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bolivia - page 142

Kalasasaya
Next to Akapana, to the north, is Kalasasaya , a walled temple compound that's thought to
have been the sacred centre of Tiwanaku, where the ruling god-emperors were buried. The
stone walls of the complex are among the most impressive masonry still standing at the site,
made with colossal megaliths weighing up to 150 tonnes interspersed with smaller blocks,
andwithcarvedstonedrainsthatmayalsohavebeenrelatedtotheritualimportanceofwater.
The compound's re-erected monoliths, alas, have suffered some of the most visible climatic
damage in recent times. On the east side of the compound, a massive doorway is astronomic-
ally aligned so that the sun appears in its centre at the spring and autumn equinoxes.
The Puerta del Sol
Set into Kalasasaya's northeastern corner is the iconic Puerta del Sol - the Gateway of the
Sun-anelaboratelydecoratedporticocarvedfromasinglepieceofrockweighingtentonnes
that has sadly been broken, probably when it was moved here from its original location, be-
lieved to have been Puma Punku. The central figure above the doorway is the best-known
image of Tiwanaku, probably the supreme creator god known to the Aymara as Thunupa and
to the Incas as Viracocha. The 24 rays emanating from his head have led some to think of him
as a sun god, but there's not much evidence to suggest such a cult existed before the Incas:
it's more likely that they're just a stylized representation of hair. From his arms hang severed
heads, probably trophies of war. These are no mere metaphors: sixteen headless bodies were
found during excavations in the Akapana pyramid, and human sacrifices involving decapita-
tion are still occasionally reported around the shores of Lago Titicaca.
Putini and the Puerta de la Luna
Just west of Kalasasaya, ongoing excavations have revealed the remains of another extensive
complex, known as Putini , which was probably a residential area for the city's ruling elite, or
possibly a burial area. Several enormous stones cut with holes big enough to accommodate
human bodies led early twentieth-century investigators, no doubt influenced by their contem-
poraries' fascination with Egyptology, to call it the “Palace of the Sarcophagi”.
To the northwest, the Puerta de la Luna - the Gateway of the Moon - is another gateway
cut from a single piece of stone, though smaller and without the elaborate decoration of the
Puerta del Sol.
Templete Semi-Subterraneo
East of Kalasasaya, the Templete Semi-Subterraneo - the Semi-Subterranean Temple - is
a sunken rectangular patio about 2m deep whose walls are studded with almost two hundred
carved stone heads, which jut out like keystones. These are thought to represent the gods of
different ethnic groups conquered and absorbed into the expanding empire - they may even
have been idols taken from these peoples and held as symbolic hostages to represent their
submission to the supremacy of Tiwanaku.