History behind the Bull: El Torito que Viajo al Cielo

"El Torito que Viajó al Cielo" (The Little Bull that Flew to Heaven)
by Jean Pierre Contreras Espinoza

Brief History of the Peruvian Bull by Verioska J. Torres

(C) Jean Pierre Contreras Espinoza,
Fondo Editorial Cultura Peruana.
(Image scanned June 2014 by Verioska J. Torres)

A dramatic children's novel about a little bull named Calixto¹, who lives peacefully with his mother and father bulls in the countryside of Ayacucho² until his owners sell the torito to a band of bullfighters.

The beginning of the story climaxes with a large storm that destroys all vegetation and flora in Ayacucho. Calixto's owners, Don Juan and Dona Ana, lose their crops from the storm and begin to suffer financially. They decide to sell off their only surviving animal. The narrative follows Calixto, who finds himself in a barbarous city with very little grazing fields and befriends two adult male bulls, Simon and Jose, inside a tiny corral.

Bullfighting is a long, old tradition in Peru that began in the late 18th-century. Plaza de Acho is Lima's oldest bullfighting rings located in Rimac district.
.... talk about debate
.... talk about the art of bullfighting v mistreatment of bulls

Image: Toritos de Pucará, Frank Tipiani, October 6, 2014.
Taken from InfoDestino de Frank Tipiani (blog).

Another Peruvian tradition was cattle branding, a ceremony most common in the Andes as tribute to the Pachamama. The animal is branded with fire, its mouth and anus slit and aji is rubbed on its wounds so that the animal licks its mouth and frantically moves its tail. In a small village of Pucará in the central region of Puno, Peruvian oral history tells of a legendary bull in the midst of sacrifice through ceremonial cattle-branding when suddenly it strikes a rock of a high mountain peak with its horns and water spills from his mouth all over the countryside. In this legend, the people of Pucará are saved by the multitude of water and starvation, which lead them in full admiration of the powers of the bull. It was not until the Colonial era that the traditionally painted, adorned, nose-licking bulls sacrificed to Pachamama were created in clay form. To that affect, Pucará becomes one of the largest commercial ceramics centers of Peru. Los Toritos de Pucará, named after the legendary bulls of Pucará, are decorated ceramic bulls, either glazed or bathed in white paste, animated to a cattle-branding stance, with painted flora and fauna, and other elements of the Peruvian landscape. Los Totitos are commonly seen on the rooftops of churches and houses in the Andean regions of Apurimac, Cusco, Puno, and Ayacucho, but can also be seen in parts of Lima.

The author has a clear understanding of his cultural heritage and further reveals a message promoting awareness of the cruelty of bulls in bullfighting. Bullfighting is meant to be a spectacle in comparison to the spectacles Roman gladiators, who were slaved into combat, or even the spectacles of animal sacrifices. An element of humanity is enhanced in the character/animal Calixto. As animals ourselves, we can empathize the loss of family and friends, as well as, the extremity of suicidal thoughts when emotionally distressed from trauma. Furthermore, the author adds the element of religion. Suffering and sacrifice are two aspects of Catholicism that Peruvians have constant awareness.

About the Author:
Jean Pierre Contreras Espinoza was born on February 23, 1997 in Ica, Peru. In 2013, his first novel El Torito que Viajó al Cielo was published by Fondo Editorial Cultura Peruana. In order to encourage young adults about the importance of Peruvian Literature, as well as, to promote awareness of animal cruelty, Jean Pierre visited several schools in Peru including Colegio 013 Instituto Leonardo Rodriguez in Tumbes. He currently lives and works in Lima and is fulfilling a career in Cinematography.

Notes:
1. "Calixto" is a name of Spanish and Portuguese origin. It derives from the Greek word kallistos, meaning 'beautiful,' and the Latin male name Calixtus. (Ex. Religious image: Saint Calixto (San Calixto Papa).)
2. Ayacucho is the capital of Huamanga District in the Ayacucho regions of Southern Peru. The name of the city derives from the Quechua words "aya" and "kuchu" meaning 'death corner.' Indigenous peoples of the Wari, Chanka, and Nasca inhabited this region until their downfall and the rise of the Incan empire. Two historical instances led to the naming of the city: In 1540, the city was given a colonial name "San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga" founded by Francisco Pizarro against Manco Inca's Rebellion; and in 1824, Simon Bolivar changed the name of the city to "Ayacucho" after the Battle of Ayacucho in the Peruvian War of Independence.
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