Most of the types of corn developed in ancient Peru were cultivated in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, located in the Urubamba province, in Cusco.
The Andean gods
Among the gods, Mama Sara, Mother Corn or of the food, was the most important along with coca and potato. There are many legends about Sara; they tell that she was a young woman of extraordinary beauty who was loved by the wizard Kuru, whom she feared and rejected.
Sara, feeling cornered by Kuru, asked her god, Inti, the sun, for help. Suddenly she felt a sweet sensation; her body transformed, becoming very slender, and her arms raised toward the sky, turning into the long leaves of a corn plant.
Thus, golden plants emerged all over the valley, resisting the strong winds.
Corn in Cuzco
From that moment, corn is called Sara and is produced in the Sacred Valley of Cuzco, where the best corn in the world is harvested. Only women can gather it because Sara was a virgin young woman, and men cannot touch her, or the successive harvests would be lost.
In Cuzco, the festival of Inti Raymi is still celebrated to thank the sun god for giving humans this precious food, corn.
According to another legend about the origin of corn, in heaven, the children of the god of War fought fiercely among themselves, producing thunder and lightning; until, tired, they stopped, longing for some peace and rest.
The god of War, feeling betrayed, became furious and punished them by sending them to earth, transformed into wild plants with leaves in spear shapes and fruits laden with thorns.
Later, the Sun god touched the ears of corn, turning them into food for humans.
