In the beginning, Lord Con Ticci Viracocha, prince and creator of all things, emerged from the void and created the earth and the heavens. Next he created animals and a race of gigantic human beings who lived upon the earth in the darkness of an eternal night, for he had not yet created any form of light. When the behavior of this race angered Viracocha, he emerged again, this time from Lake Titicaca, and he punished these first human beings by turning them into stone. Then he created a great flood. Soon even the peaks of the highest mountains were under water.
When Viracocha was satisfied that the flood had destroyed all forms of life, he caused the flood waters to subside until the face of the earth stood revealed once again. So great was his creative power that he then created day by causing the sun to emerge from the island of Titicaca and rise into the heavens. In the same way, he created the moon and the stars, setting each brilliant light upon its proper path. With a wave of his hand and a command from his mouth, some hills and mountains sank to become valleys, while some Valleys rose w become hills and mountains. With ·another wave and command, streams and rivers of fresh water sprang from the rocky cliffs, cascaded down the mountainsides, and flowed through the valleys.
Viracocha then turned his attention to creating new animals and a new race of human beings. First he created birds to fly in the air and fill the silence with song. He gave each type of bird a different melody to sing, sending some to live deep 'in the forested valleys and others to live in the high plains and mountains. Then he created the animals that walk the earth _on four legs and the creatures that crawl on their stomachs. These too he divided between the lowlands and the highlands.
Once he had created all the animals, Viracocha was ready to create human beings. He decided to model them in stone, so he fashioned and painted stone men, stone women, and stone children.
He created some of the women in the condition of pregnancy. He created others in the process of caring for their young children, who were in cradles just as they would be once he brought them to life. He painted long hair on some figures and short hair on others. On each figure he painted the kind of clothing that that person would continue ·to wear. In this way Viracocha gave each human being the appearance that he or she would have in life. Then he fashioned a stone community in Tiahuanaco as a home for some of these stone people.
Finally Viracocha divided his stone figures into groups. He gave each group the food it would grow1 the language it would speak, and the songs it would sing. Then he commanded all of the stone figures to sink beneath the earth and remain there until he or one of his helpers summoned them.
Viracocha explained their duties to the companions who had emerged with him from Lake Titicaca. "I want some of you to walk to the north, some to the south and the rest toward the early morning sun. Divide among you the regions that I inter1d to populate with human beings. When you arrive in your region, go to the fountains, or the caves, or the rivers, or the high mountain plateaus. Summon from these places the groups of stone figures that I have a**igned to your region."
So it came to pa** that each of Viracocha's companions became a helper in the process of creation, and the land was populated with many groups of people. As each “viracocha" called forth his group of stone figures\ Viracocha shouted, "Con. Ticci Viracocha, who created the universe, commands his human beings to emerge from the stone figures he has created and occupy this empty land! Live in your area, and increase in number."
Viracocha himself walked the Royal Road across the Andes Mountains toward what would become the city of Cuzco. As he traveled, he called forth group after group of human beings and taught each group how to live on the land. He told them the name of each tree, each plant, each fruit, and each flower. He showed them which were good sources of food1 which could heal sickness and injuries, and which would bring certain d**h. He also taught the people to treat one another with kindness and respect so they could live with one another in peace.
Meanwhile, Viracocha's helpers were teaching the same knowledge to the groups of human beings who had emerged in their regions.
Viracocha continued this process until one group of people emerged armed with rocks. They did not recognize Viracocha, and they attacked him. Viracocha punished them by causing fire to fall from the heavens. The people immediately threw their stones to the ground and fell at Viracocha's feet in surrender. Viracocha extinguished the flames with three blows from his staff and explained that he was their creator.
These people constructed a great stone figure of Viracocha. They established a place of worship where Viracocha had brought down the fire and set the statue within it. Their descendants continue to present offerings of gold and silver in that sacred place.
Finally Viracocha reached the site of Cuzco, which he named. He created a ruler for the- area and then returned to the seacoast. His companions rejoined him, and they set forth over the ocean toward the setting sun. Those who saw them last watched in fascination as Viracocha and his companions walked upon the waves as if the sea were solid land. The people called their creator Viracocha, which means "foam of the -sea," in honor of this event.
Viracocha and his companions were never seen again.