The nine day festival approaching in late June is intended to honor Inti, the Sun God. The festival's importance is found not just in its explicit celebrations of the harvest, the winter solstice and the deity connected with the warmth, heat and sustenance of the sun but additionally in its demonstration of the ancient cultural heritage of Peru. Indeed, most especially in the time of the Incan kingdom's rule, this was a context where spirituality marked all aspects of Peruvian daily life. The connection between religious worship and the sun demonstrates the degree to which this permeation occurred. Contrary to the Judeo-Christian tradition that would soon invade the region, religious observance was less bound to a Creator deity than it was to this deity of the elements. According to Davis, Viracocha is the deity to whom the creation of man and earth are attributed in Incan mythology, however a far greater cultural and practical emphasis seems to have been placed on Inti instead. (Davies, p. 143)

This is consistent with the religious orientation of many of the great and small kingdoms of pre-Spanish South America. Indeed, the highly agrarian nature of the civilizations achieved in this time and place would lead to an inextricable connection between patterns impacting the harvest and the divine implications thereby invoked. Consequently, many of the religious traditions preceding and surrounding the Incans would take the perspective that significant daily affairs relating to survival were instigated directly by the gods and especially by those such as Inti with so great a power to effect human experience. As Adams (1996) observes, "intellectually, there were certain cross-cutting philosophical and religious principles. One seet was bound up with the fatalistic cosmologies of the Mesoamericns. Humans lived in a hostile world with capricious gods." (Adams, p. 20)

These gods required, therefore, the constant praise, thanks, worship and entreaty that are best witnessed today through the Inti Raymi's reenactment. In this recreation we...

According to Discover Peru (2010), the Spanish invasions of the late 15th century and onward was come with an aggressive sublimation of Incan religious practices which, as being wholly fundamental to the Incan way of life, would in their absence help to predict the fall of the domestic empire to foreign invaders. Accordingly, "the Inti Raymi was prohibited by the Spanish during the first years of the conquest claiming that it was a pagan ceremony and not in compliance with the catholic religion, however, small ceremonies took place without major consequences. Later, during the colony, in 1572 Viceroy Francisco de Toledo officially banned the celebration along with many other Inca traditions; even wearing traditional Inca clothes was outlawed. These rulings took effect after a series of Inca rebellions such as the uprising of the last Inca ruler Tupac Amaru I who was executed along with his family and advisers." (Discover Peru, p. 1)
Here, we can see that the initial elimination of this critical ritual, ceremony and celebration would prefigure the elimination of the might Incan kingdom as well. Likewise, the recreation which occurs today remains an essential way of preserving a tradition which has already been too much obscured by the passage of time.

Works Cited:

Adams, R.E.W. (1996). Prehistoric Mesoamerica. University of Oklahoma Press.

Bakalar, N. (2005). Ancient Canals in Andes Reveal Early Agriculture. National Geographic.

Davies, N. (1998). The Ancient Kingdoms of Peru. Penguin.

Discover Peru. (2010). Inti Raymi, the Celebration of the Sun. Discover-peru.org.