These colorful knit hats with earflaps, known as
ch'ullos (CHEW-yohs), are worn by men in traditional Andean villages. You don't usually find many high-quality
ch'ullos in Lima, but this past Monday I found a virtual forest of them on the third floor of Saga Falabella department store, in Jockey Plaza, where the hats are being featured in a high-end
artisanía exhibit, "Perú Hecho a Mano." (Check out
my story on the "Hecho a Mano" exhibit in this week's
Living in Peru.)
You can find cheap mass-produced
ch'ullos all over Cusco, but the most beautiful, and the most highly prized, are those that are woven by hand, in elaborate designs distinctive to each Andean village. In the villages around Mount Ausangate, where the pilgrimage of
Qoyllur Rit'i takes place,
ch'ullos are often decorated with white beads and big woolen tassels called
t'ikas. Both men and women knit
ch'ullos, but the first one that a child receives is traditionally made by his father.
According to Saga Falabella's chief buyer Milagros Cuglievan, top-quality
ch'ullos are highly collectible. Connoisseurs may own as many as thirty or more, which they display proudly in their homes. Some of the models I saw in "Perú Hecho a Mano" sell for 98 and 197
soles a piece. I suppose that's a bargain compared to what you'd pay to fly to Cusco and trek around the region hunting down exceptional examples. (Then, of course, there's always the issue of being able to convince someone to part with his best
ch'ullo).
Here is my friend and trekking guide Pablo Huaman Huanca, from Upis (by Mt. Ausangate), wearing a striking
ch'ullo with
t'ikas:
For more information on traditional clothing of the Quechua people of the Andes, visit My
Peru's guide to Andean culture.
