Travel Peru, Peru Blog

As I wrote in the previous post, Inti Raymi or Feast of the Sun is the most important feast in Qosqo now as well as it was in Inca time.
Actually, it is one of the most important feasts throughout Perú, but I have not had the chance to attend it so far. Nonetheless, I hope so this year since it is due this 24th of June.

Cristóbal de Molina, one of the earliest Spaniard chroniclers, states in his `Relación de las Fábulas y Ritos de los Incas´ that the incas

comenzaron a contar el año mediado mayo, a primero día de la luna, en el cual hacían las ceremonias siguientes, llamadas intip raymi, que quiere decir fiestas del Sol.

Molina depicted this feast basically as a pilgrimage toward the source of the Vilcanota River, southbound from Qosqo. They went south as they believed the sun got birth from that direction.
As the incas walked south, they stopped at sacred places every day in order to worship the sun and make sacrifices by burning llamas, coca, maize and shell known as mullo or mullu.

Sacrificies were also done at the Temple of the Sun or Qoricancha three times a day. At dawn, they sacrificed a llama at Huanacauri hill and at sunset another one at Aspiran hill in the Puquin or Poquencancha area nowadays. Honestly, I do not know yet where those hills are, but I am going to find out sooner or later.

Molina says that on the way back, the incas stopped at a place called Mantucalla where a huge party was celebrated. At the end of this month, the inca headed for the main square which was known as Aucaypata at inca times, and the feast was over then.

Molina lived in Qosqo from 1564 until he died there in 1585. He was priest of the Hospital de los Naturales, and he was one of the most renowned quechua speakers of his time.