Long before Spanish settlement, the ancient town of Uru Uru—the pre-Hispanic name for present-day Oruro—was an important religious destination for Aymara and Quechua peoples of the Andes.
Local communities worshipped Andean deities, offering prayers for protection and giving thanks to Pachamama. Following the Spanish conquest of Bolivia and the introduction of Catholicism, these Indigenous belief systems were forcibly overlaid with Christian doctrine.
Today, the Carnival of Oruro reflects this history of imposition and survival. It embodies a syncretic pagan-Catholic tradition, dramatizing the struggle between good and evil through a procession that culminates in the triumph of the army of angels, led by the Archangel Michael.