Urcuchillay

Sources describe Urcuchillay as a deity worshiped by Incan herders and tied to the pastoral economy of the Andes. Rather than a cosmogenic creator, Urcuchillay appears in the sources as a specialized protector of domestic camelids: herders treated the figure as an object of worship concerned with the wellbeing of llamas and other herd animals. The deity's name was also applied to an asterism (the western constellation Lyra), and sources state that Urcuchillay was said to be the incarnation or earthly counterpart of that constellation; this situates the figure in an Andean cosmology that links celestial patterns with practical, terrestrial concerns such as herding. In contemporary usage the IAU adopted the form Urquchillay for the star Zeta2 Lyrae (2026), showing the persistence of the name in astronomical contexts.

The recorded description in available sources presents Urcuchillay primarily as a multicolored llama. This vivid camelid form is the core iconography: the deity is identified with a llama figure rather than a humanlike anthropomorphic god in the extant summaries. The same name also labels the constellation Lyra in Andean mappings of the sky, so the visual identity of Urcuchillay functions both as a terrestrial multicolored llama and as an astral pattern in the night sky.

Sources attribute to Urcuchillay a guardianship role over herd animals — "watching over animals" is the chief activity recorded. The deity functions as a pastoral protector invoked or recognized by herders concerned for the health and safety of their llamas. In addition to this protective, watchful function, Urcuchillay is linked to the constellation Lyra, and sources report the name being applied to both the deity and the asterism; beyond that astral-terrestrial identification and the role of animal guardian, the provided materials do not document further powers (such as healing, cursing, or speech) or detailed interactions with individual humans.