Patronal saint festival, symbol of political power in Peruvian Andean Communities

Abstract

The objective of the research was to analyze the essence of the political power of the patron saint festivities in the Peruvian territory. This patronal activity, which gathers thousands of parishioners with devotion to a patron saint, is symbolized as a political power by the steward. The ethnographic work in the patronal feast allowed us to gather information about the scenario of the events in the Andean community. The population participates actively, without knowing the interest and political power exercised by the mayordomos when aspiring to other public positions of political influence in the Peruvian State. It is concluded that the foundation of Town Centers as a structure of the State does not have organic functionality in the towns, on the contrary, it is a symbol of political power to ascend to other positions of personal interest, they use religious faith to impose a patron to the town of recent formation to organize its patronal feast.