Inti Raymi

Every year to celebrate the Winter Solstice (shortest day of the year), the Peruvian people celebrate a traditional Inca festival called Inti Raymi, with a reenactment of the original ceremony that took place hundreds of years ago. Thousands of people gather - local Peruvians and tourists - to watch the ceremony take place. As a part of our program, we got VIP seats at the final part of the ceremony in Saqsaywaman, one of the famous Inca archeological sites.

We were given a script of the ceremony in English, since the actors would be speaking in Quechua, the offical Inca language. We watched as the Inca priest called the hundreds of actors to gather around the main platform. All were dressed in traditional garb that represented each tribe of the Inca Empire. In the background, there were musicians and conch-blowers.

Soon the priest announced that he could see the Emperor coming, and we looked at the top of the hill and saw the Emperor seated on his throne that was being carried by his servants.

Soon the Emperor was on the main platform, and he and the other Inca people began to chant and start their rituals to worship the sun. One excerpt from the script says this:

"The father Sun is with us

On his great feast day

Let us ask him to send his bright rays

So that we might live in harmony

The festival of the Sun has come

To bring us joy

The day of the Sun has come

So that we might rejoice"

Afterward, each different tribe of Incas began to present offerings to the Emperor. They would also report on the prosperity, whether or not it had been a good year (ex: if the warriors had been successful or if the harvests had failed).

Side note: There was a funny actor dressed as a deer, who would saunter around with such attitude it was quite amusing. This picture captured it perfectly!

The next part of the ceremony was called the Rite of the Chica. Chica is a sweet golden corn, and for the purpose of this ceremony, they ground the chica and made it into a sweet liquid. They then drank some of it, and poured the rest into the earth as an offering to Mother Earth.

When finished with the Rite of the Chica, they lit a fire known as the Sacred Inca Fire. This was necessary for their next ritual, Sacrifice of a Llama. Before you become concerned, no, they did not actually kill a llama, which is a relief because it's not something I'd really want to see. They brought a llama (the llama had to be the finest from the herds, and as black as possible since black is considered the color of purity in Peru) onto the main platform and place it on a stone block. Then, one of the actors pretended to open up the animal and retrieve its heart. He then placed the heart in the Sacred Inca Fire as a sacrifice to the Sun god.

After finishing several more small rituals, the ceremony was over, and the Emperor was paraded around on his alter, and then taken back up the mountain.

It was amazing to be able to see this oustanding reenactment of Inti Raymi, which was such a significant part of the Inca history. It was also great to see how the Peruvian people celebrate this tradition - there were about 9,000 people who came to Sacsaywaman to celebrate, and many parts of Cusco display the entire ceremony on large projector screens. And the Peruvians who don't watch the ceremony live, use the day off of school and work to spend time with their families and have cook-outs, etc. As the emperor stated during Inti Raymi, "Long life to the people of Cusco!"