Inti Raymi and the Festival of the Sun

Inti Raymi — the “feast of the sun” — was the most elaborate of the state festivals of the Inca Empire and the principal ritual by which the Sapa Inca renewed the bond between the imperial order and the cosmos. Celebrated at the winter solstice in late June — the period of the Andean year when the Pleiades reappeared in the pre-dawn sky and the agricultural cycle began anew — Inti Raymi was the central act of state cult and the moment at which the imperial administration’s authority was ritually reaffirmed. The festival is treated in detail in this article; the principal elements were a procession of the mallkis (mummified ancestors) of the dead sovereigns from the Coricancha to the great square of Cusco, the sacrifice of llamas, the pouring of chicha to renew the bond with Inti, and the burning of large quantities of cumbi cloth as offerings to the sun. The festival ended with a public feast in which the Sapa Inca distributed food, chicha, and textiles to the population of Cusco and to visiting curacas from across the empire. The Inca music and festival tradition is treated in the related article; the Inca religion and mythology is treated in the related article.

The date and the astronomical setting of Inti Raymi

Inti Raymi was celebrated at the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere — astronomically around June 21, the date now commemorated annually in Cusco on June 24 since the festival’s modern revival in 1944. The exact date in the Inca calendar depended on the observation of the solstice by the state astronomers (quipucamayoc). The solstice was identified by the reappearance of the Pleiades in the pre-dawn sky, an event of central importance in the Andean agricultural calendar because it marked the beginning of the dry season and the time at which the sowing of the principal crops was begun. The Inca astronomers, who used a sophisticated system of observation from stone towers (saywas) on the horizon of Cusco, identified the reappearance of the Pleiades to within a day or two of the actual astronomical event, and the chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega recorded that the imperial astronomers had refined this observation to a remarkable degree of accuracy.

The choice of the solstice as the date of the festival was not merely calendrical but cosmological. The winter solstice was the moment at which the sun — Inti, the principal deity of the Inca state and the mythical ancestor of the royal line — was at its lowest point in the sky, and the festival marked the renewal of the solar cycle and the beginning of the new agricultural year. The chronicler Cobo recorded that the qmalla (the period from the solstice to the reappearance of the Pleiades) was the most sacred period of the Andean year, and that the principal state rituals of the period were performed at the saywas of the Cusco horizon. The detailed treatment of the Inca calendar and of the ceque system of Cusco is given in the related articles.

The ceremony of Inti Raymi: a day-long ritual

The ceremony of Inti Raymi, as reconstructed from the chronicles of Garcilaso de la Vega, Bernabé Cobo, and Martín de Murúa, was a day-long ritual that began at dawn and ended at midnight. The ceremony was performed in the great square of Cusco, in the Coricancha, and at a series of huacas (sacred sites) along the ceque system of the city. The principal actors were the Sapa Inca, the high priest of the sun, the panaca nobles, the acllas of the imperial aclla wasi, and the curacas of the empire’s principal provinces.

The ceremony began at dawn with a procession of the mallkis — the mummified ancestors of the dead Sapa Incas — from the Coricancha to the great square of Cusco. The mallkis were carried in litters by the senior members of the corresponding panacas, and the procession was accompanied by the music of the quena and zampoña, the churu (conch-shell trumpets), and the wankar (drums). The Sapa Inca, in a fresh cumbi tunic of the deepest red, walked at the head of the procession, preceded by the acllas who scattered maize and quinoa on the path before him. The chronicler Murúa recorded that the procession took approximately two hours to traverse the distance from the Coricancha to the great square.

In the great square, the Sapa Inca performed the principal ritual acts of the festival. He sacrificed a black llama — the llama of the Sapa Inca — by cutting its heart out with a tumi knife and offering the heart to Inti; the blood of the llama was poured on the central stone of the square, and the body of the llama was burned as an offering. A second llama, of a brown color, was sacrificed for the sun; a third, of a white color, was sacrificed for the coya; and a series of additional llamas were sacrificed for the principal panacas and curacas. The chronicler Cobo recorded that the total number of llamas sacrificed at the festival was approximately 100 to 200, and that the quantity of llama blood poured on the central stone was substantial.

After the sacrifices, the Sapa Inca performed the principal offering of chicha. The chicha — fermented maize beer — was brewed in the imperial aclla wasi and stored in a large gold vessel, which the Sapa Inca then poured on the central stone of the square. The chronicler Murúa recorded that the chicha was poured in four directions — to the four suyus of the empire — and that the act of pouring renewed the bond between the imperial order and the four regions. The Sapa Inca then offered a series of cumbi textiles to the sun, throwing the textiles into a great fire that had been prepared in the center of the square; the chronicler Cobo recorded that the quantity of cumbi textiles burned at the festival was approximately 1,000 to 2,000, and that the textiles were of the finest alpaca wool, woven in the t’oqapu of the imperial panacas.

The public feast and the distribution of gifts

The ceremony ended with a public feast in which the Sapa Inca distributed food, chicha, and textiles to the population of Cusco and to visiting curacas from across the empire. The feast was held in the great square of the city, and the chronicler Cobo recorded that the quantity of food distributed was approximately 5,000 to 10,000 q’epi (woven bags) of chuño, 1,000 to 2,000 jars of chicha, and several hundred cumbi tunics. The food was distributed by the acllas of the imperial aclla wasi, and the curacas of the principal provinces received the most generous gifts.

The feast was accompanied by the Qori Huayra — the “golden wind” — a slow, solemn dance performed by a long line of women of the panaca, holding hands and led by a single musician. The dance was performed to the accompaniment of the zampoña and the wankar, and the q’onopa (a wailing song) that the chronicler Cobo described as “a kind of slow, sad song, very pleasing to the ear.” The Qori Huayra was performed throughout the day, and was the principal musical expression of the festival. The Quinua Raymi — a fast, military dance performed by men with weapons — was also performed, and was the principal male expression of the festival.

The distribution of food and textiles was an act of considerable political significance. The Sapa Inca used the festival to confirm the curacas of the empire’s principal provinces in their positions, and the gifts distributed at the festival were calibrated to the political and economic importance of the recipient. The most distinguished curacas — those of the Chinchaysuyu and the Collasuyu — received substantial gifts of cumbi tunics, gold and silver jewelry, and llamas; the less distinguished curacas received smaller gifts. The chronicler Murúa recorded that the Sapa Inca used the festival to settle disputes between curacas, to receive tribute from the provinces, and to communicate policy decisions to the imperial administration.

The religious and political significance of Inti Raymi

Inti Raymi was, in religious terms, the principal ritual by which the Inca state renewed the bond between the imperial order and the cosmos. The festival was a ritual of cosmic renewal, in which the Sapa Inca — the living representative of Inti on earth — performed the central act of the cult of the sun, and in which the mallkis of the dead Sapa Incas were brought into the present to participate in the ritual. The festival was, in this sense, a moment at which the boundaries between the living and the dead, the human and the divine, were temporarily dissolved.

In political terms, Inti Raymi was the principal moment of imperial reaffirmation. The festival was an occasion on which the Sapa Inca demonstrated his authority over the four suyus of the empire, and on which the curacas of the principal provinces reaffirmed their loyalty to the imperial order. The chronicler Sarmiento de Gamboa recorded that the Sapa Inca used the festival to communicate the principal policy decisions of the year to the imperial administration, and that the curacas used the festival to present petitions and complaints to the Sapa Inca. The festival was, in this sense, a kind of imperial parliament, and the decisions communicated at the festival were binding on the provincial administrations.

The festival also had a substantial economic significance. The distribution of food, chicha, and textiles at the festival was a substantial transfer of wealth from the imperial administration to the population of Cusco and to the curacas of the principal provinces, and the chronicler Murúa recorded that the total cost of the festival was on the order of 500 to 1,000 tons of food and several thousand cumbi tunics. The festival was, in this sense, a substantial investment of the state’s resources in the maintenance of the imperial order, and the qollqas of the major provincial centers were drawn down substantially to support the festival. The detailed treatment of the Inca storage and qollqa system is given in the related article; the Inca music and festival tradition is treated in the related article.

Inti Raymi after the conquest and the modern revival

The Spanish conquest of 1532 and the subsequent conversion of the indigenous population to Christianity did not erase the memory of Inti Raymi, but the public performance of the festival was suppressed by the colonial administration. The chronicler Murúa recorded that the indigenous population of Cusco continued to perform the festival in modified form throughout the sixteenth century, and that the Spanish authorities made several attempts to suppress the celebration. The festival was, in the colonial period, transformed into the Christian feast of Corpus Christi, which incorporated several elements of the Inca festival — including the procession through the streets of Cusco and the offering of food and chicha — while ostensibly celebrating the Christian Eucharist.

The modern revival of Inti Raymi began in 1944, when a group of Cusco intellectuals and artists organized a public performance of the festival in the ruins of the Sacsayhuamán fortress above the city. The revival was modeled on the descriptions of the festival in the chronicles of Garcilaso de la Vega, Cobo, and Murúa, and it included the principal elements of the Inca ceremony: the procession of the mallkis from the Coricancha to the fortress, the sacrifice of a llama (in modern times a symbolic act), the offering of chicha, and the public feast. The festival is now performed annually on June 24, and it attracts several hundred thousand visitors to Cusco each year. The detailed treatment of the Inca music and festival tradition is given in the related article; the architecture of Cusco and the Coricancha is treated in the related article.