Inti Raymi, Festival of the Sun

 New Year’s Day, the Festival of Inti Raymi, came on the shortest day of the year for the Inca of Peru (approximately June 21 in the southern hemisphere). It is a holiday dedicated to the newborn sun—the one they call Inti. Before the colonial Spaniards banned the ceremonial events occurring each Winter Solstice in Cuzco, the native residents gathered to honor the Sun God, sacrifice an animal to ensure good crops and to pay homage to Inti, one of the most important gods in the Inca pantheon. 

The ceremonies took place at the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest from the earth. Fearing the lack of sun and ensuing famine, the ancient Incas gathered in Cuzco to honor the Sun God and plead for his return. The celebrants fasted for days before the event, refrained from physical pleasures and presented gifts to the Inca priests, who in return put on a lavish banquet of meat, corn bread, chicha and coca tea as they prepared to sacrifice llamas to ensure good crops and fertile fields. 

Spanish chroniclers tell us that on New Year’s Day all fires were extinguished in the capital city of Cuzco, only to be relit later in the day by a piece of cotton batting ignited by the rays of the sun god, Inti. The chroniclers tell us that in this special day five-hundred years ago the Inca made a pilgrimage from the Valley of Cuzco up the Vilcanota River toward the northeast in the direction of the rising solstice sun.  The route led to Lake Titicaca, were they say that both the sun and Inca race were born.  

The Inti Raymi festival commenced when the sun reached its turning point in the sky, which was marked by huge pillars erected along the mountainous horizon. When the sun arrived there the people gathered in the city square; they brought out their mummified ancestors robed in gold and paraded them around the city and into the Qorifcancha along with the emperor, who was similarly garbed.  There the Inca placed a golden disk to reflect the sun’s glow all around the courtyard.

In 1572, Viceroy Toledo banned Inti Raymi celebrations as pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith. Following the edict, the ceremonies went underground. Today, it's the second largest festival in South America.

The centerpiece of the week long festival is the all-day celebrations on June 24, the actual day of Inti Raymi. On this day, the ceremonial events begin with an invocation by the Sapa Inca in the Qorikancha in front of the Santo Domingo church, built over the ancient Temple of the Sun. Here, the Sapa Inca calls on the blessings from the sun. Following the oration, Sapa Inca is carried on a golden throne, a replica of the original which weighed about 60 kilos, in a procession to the ancient fortress of Sacsayhuamán, in the hills above Cuzco. With the Sapa Inca come the high priests, garbed in ceremonial robes, then officials of the court, nobles and others, all elaborately costumed according to their rank, with silver and gold ornaments.