What Was Inti Raymi And Why Was It Celebrated By Inca?

Last Updated on December 26, 2017

AncientPages.com - Inti Raymi is Inca’s Sun Festival traditionally celebrated  at Cuzco on June 24, which marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year - the Inca New Year (in regions south of the equator the Gregorian months, June and July are winter months.)

According to this ancient tradition, Inca honor the beginning of the new solar year, a time when the Sun makes its come back to provide warmth for all life. It is the rebirth of the Sun, the Inca royalty and the mythical origin of the Inca people.

The name Inti Raymi comes from the Quechua language: inti means “sun” and raymi means “festival.”

During the Inca Empire, only Inca males were allowed to participate in the festival, during which offerings were made to the Sun, god Viracocha and the thunder god. The participants made a large number of wooden statues dressed in fine clothes; at the end of the festival, the statues were burned.

The rituals associated with Inti Raymi are still performed  and take place in front of  huge crowds in this particular day each June at Cuzco, Peru.

The ancient fortress-ruins of Sacsayhuaman, in the hills overlooking the city, are filled that day with very special atmosphere of Andean music, dance, a simulation of animal sacrifice (which originally served as an offering to the Sun God), parades and ceremonies in the ancient Quechua tongue.

See also:

Who Was The Sapa Inca?

Mystery Of The Lost Golden Chain Of Huayna Capac: Will The Ancient Inca Treasure Ever Be Found?

Paititi: Legendary Lost Inca City Of Gold

Manco Capac: Legendary Founder Of The Inca Dynasty Of Peru

Story Of Atahualpa: The Last Emperor Of The Inca Empire

The lead figure is "The Inca" - the Emperor, supreme ruler of the Incan Empire. Carried on a platform and dressed in regal red and gold, the Emperor leads the ceremony with gestures and incantations to the Sun.

During the festival, 500 actors representing Inca nobility are dressed in traditional clothes adorned with silver and gold. One actor portraying the Sapa Inca gives his blessings to the ceremony and makes a speech in the native language Quechua, to honor the Sun.

According to Spanish chronicler, soldier and poet, Garcilaso de la Vega, the festival Inti Raymi was created by the ninth Sapa Inca Pachacuti in 1412 and lasted for nine days.

The last Inti Raymi with the Inca Emperor's presence was carried out in 1535, after which the Spanish and the Catholic priests banned it, for many years at least.

Little is really known about the details of the Inti Raymi celebration, and most of what we see today is pieced together from archaeological findings, and of memories and practices that have been passed on from one generation to another to keep the ancient traditions alive.

As Quechua is not a written language, there are no written records of how the rituals were originally performed.

Among South American greatest celebrations, Inti Raymi is the second only to festival in Rio de Janeiro.

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