What Is Inti Raymi: All You Need To Know

Also known as “Festival of the Sun”, it is the most significant celebration of the Andes, left behind by the powerful Inca Empire. This famous festivity in South America has been carried out for centuries in spite of the extirpation of idolatries imposed by the Spanish crown during colonization.

Nowadays, it is celebrated in several countries that once belonged to the Tahuantinsuyo empire, such as Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Colombian and most importantly, Peru. The Inti Raymi used to mark the beginning of the Incan new year and the winter solstice, today it is seen as a celebration that looks to commemorate the memory of the ancient Peruvians.

This famous festivity is celebrated every 24th of June, mainly in the city of Cusco, with a “short” representation of what the ritual was like during Inca times. The Inti Raymi attracts thousands of foreign and national travelers with its vivid cultural expression where hundreds of dancers, musicians and actors perform one of the most important traditions of the Inca culture.

However, there’s so much more to know about this impressive festival, and here we have gathered some historical facts that you must know!

Why Was The Inti Raymi Celebrated?

The Festival of the Sun was established by the Sapa Inca Pachacuti in 1412 A.D. to commemorate the winter solstice and the Sun God, who was admired and respected as the one and only universal god, as well as to celebrate the Inca New Year. 

It also symbolized the mythical origins of the Inca people, acknowledging themselves as descendants of the first Inca Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo, who were known to be Children of the Sun.

According to chroniclers, the Inti Raymi was created under three motifs: To acknowledge gratitude to the Sun God, honor the memory of the first Inca rulers and to rejoice the people of the empire. 

Although it is a mainly religious celebration, it also demonstrated the hierarchy between the common people and the Inca elite, and it showed how distant they were from the rest of the population due to how sumptuous the festival was.

However, it is possible that this festivity became a popular characteristic across the empire since all the nations celebrated the Inti Raymi simultaneously as it happened in Cusco; and the celebration was even bigger wherever the ruling Inca was located in that moment.

The Inti Raymi During Inca Times

There were many festivals celebrated during the reign of the Incas, but none was as important as the Inti Raymi. According to the chroniclers, this festivity was, as expected, a cultural expression that gathered different Andean entities, where each community would fully manifest itself in the great festival of the Sun. 

Their costumes were flashy, colorful, with gold and silver plated costumes and impressive headdresses. Each of the nations of the empire used to bring musicians, singers, actors, dancers and much more, thus uniting diverse customs each year to honor the Sun God and Tahuantinsuyo.

Inti Raymi was celebrated in every corner of the empire, regardless of where the reigning Inca was located. Although attendance was not obligatory, the main rulers felt obliged to do so for discipline, convenience, and fundamentally, because they enjoyed and felt honored to participate in this celebration.

However, if a royal guest was unable to attend, they had to send an accredited representative, usually a brother, son or relative.

The presence of women in the festival was limited to the Mamaconas and Acllas, who offered their services for some rituals and to serve in the ceremonies at the end of the event. The Coya, sisters, wives and concubines were forbidden to be part of the festivity.

Popular participation was not entirely excluded from this celebration, since the peasant masses followed the festivity from afar and celebrated in their own way. In addition, the festivity in honor of the Sun God was celebrated in all the towns of the empire, and the mobilization from one province to another was prohibited, limiting the common people to celebrate with only their own.

Being the Inti Raymi a fundamentally religious festivity, the Inca, as Son of the Sun, fulfilled the function of High Priest in the inaugural ceremonies, initiating this festivity from the Huacaypata square (current Plaza de Armas of Cusco).

There, together with more than three hundred people, they sang in harmony while waiting for the dawn, and as the first rays of the sun illuminated the sky, these songs became louder, as if they wanted to greet, embrace and kiss this powerful god.

In the course of the festivity, they made adorations in the Coricancha Temple, they also used to sacrifice around 100 animals or more in honor to the Sun God, as well as to the Viracocha God and to the God of the Thunder.

The Incas also had the custom of extinguishing all the bonfires in the city and creating new ones that with the direct help of the sun, could burn very dry straw or cotton. With this fire they burned the sacrifices they made and roasted all the meat of that day.

Apart from the prayers, songs, dances, sacrifices and toasts, they used to make a procession where they took out the mummies of the kings and proudly remembered their origin.

At the end of the celebration, all the other offerings were consumed in a great bonfire that burned in the closing of the Inti Raymi, to later scatter their ashes in a sacred place where only the selected priests had access and the Inca himself led the last procession. 

After that, the emperor would go down to the Huacaypata plaza where he would spend the rest of the day in a state of contemplation and then return home at nightfall. Finally, the rest of the rulers returned to their lands and thus concluded the festivity of Inti Raymi.

There are accounts of chroniclers that indicate that the Inti Raymi lasted 1 month during the time of the Incas, although others contradict this hypothesis, where they report that it lasted from 8 to 9 days. 

Likewise, the date on which they celebrated this festivity could vary according to when the solstice happened, so to assume that the Inti Raymi was celebrated on the 24th of June of every year with accuracy is totally wrong.

Fortunately, the memory of Inti Raymi was not completely extirpated from the Inca village, since it prevailed in the hearts of its people and continued to be celebrated in secret even after it was prohibited by mandate of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo in 1572.

The Inti Raymi Today

Nowadays, the Inti Raymi is the second largest celebration in South America, just below Rio’s Carnival in Brazil, and though it is widely celebrated by different Andean communities, it wasn’t until 1944 that the ancient ritual was recovered from oblivion and unveiled to the world.

Faustino Espinoza Navarro and Humberto Vidal Unda recreated the Inti Raymi ritual right off from the Comentario Reales de los Incas book written by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, born of the first generation after the Spanish conquest.

They wrote the first theatrical script of this important celebration for 600 actors. Fausto gave life to the Inca for 14 consecutive years, and now it continues as one of the most significant celebrations in the Cusco region, attracting visitors from all around the globe.

The Inti Raymi was declared Cultural Heritage of Peru and Ritual Ceremony of National Identity in 2001. It is currently celebrated every June 24th in several locations within Cusco city such as the Qorikancha Temple, Plaza de Armas of Cusco and the Ceremonial Fortress of Sacsayhuaman.

How to Attend the Inti Raymi?

As we mentioned above, the Inti Raymi festival takes place every June 24th, right at the peak of the high tourist season in Peru. The celebration attracts not only national visitors but tourists from all around the world, which is why you will need to arrive early at any of the three locations where it is performed.

There’s no entrance fee to enjoy this magical cultural experience since the ceremonies take place in public spaces. However, the main ritual is performed in the Sacsayhuaman Archeological Site, and though you could watch it from the surrounding hills, you can also purchase a ticket to watch the show from the ruins.

Our Machu Picchu with Inti Raymi Package guarantees the perfect spots to watch the Inti Raymi from either of its three sceneries, while also including the visit to the most significant Inca sites around the region so you can get to know much more of this famous civilization.

Planning a trip to Peru could not be easier if you have the right information! Make the most of your experience in the ancient country of the Incas and travel back in time with us. Check our Peru and Machu Picchu travel packages for more inspiration.

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