Sources
of Information
| Little
is known about the subject of the Inti Raymi, however, some
information gathered by chroniclers Cieza de Leon, Cristobal
de Molina (the Cusqueño) Jose de Acosta, Murua, Guamam Poma
de Ayala, Betanzos and Garcilaso de la Vega are very important.
Because they shed some light in the matter. |
|
The
information we have used to recreate the festival that honors
the Sun called Apu Punchao Inca, also known as Sun of the Incas
comes from the memories of the actual peasants who still practice
some of the ceremonies during the year to honor their tutelar
gods inherited from the Incas. This information has also
been gathered from the archeological findings.
| Nowadays,
this ceremony is represented on the stage of Saqsaywaman fortress
with a written script. Lately, new scenes have been added,
such as those held in the courtyard of Koricancha Temple and
the Main Square of Cusco, called the Haukaypata, from which,
the royal followers go to the slope of the fortress every
June the 24th. Each year special stands are built for the
visitors that can reach about 100 000 on that day. Local people
sit around the complex to watch the ceremony.
For
the author, it's a special privilege to narrate a ceremony
he has witnessed. Now follows a summary of the events on
stage.
|
|
FESTIVAL
OF THE SUN
From the main architectural sites built
by the incas, we can see that the sun was the main deity.
Buildings like the Koricancha made of polished stones where we
can admire the surrounding wall and the interior rooms with delicate
polished stones of the finest quality.
This temple, was richly decorated with precious metals and delicate
weavings honoring the sun god, and making it the main target for
the pilfering carried out by the Spaniards.
It is also mentioned that walls had golden plates that were stolen
by spaniards, who eager for gold and silver entered the sacred
sites and tore down all ornaments and offerings like those inside
the Koricancha. The offerings buried in the ground were the only
things spaniards couldn't take.
For the festival of the Sun, people made prior arrangements for
the ceremony and when the Inca and his followers entered the temple,
all the people toasted him with chicha or a drink specially prepared
for this ocassion. The chicha was served in two container es called
Keros. In one glass, people toasted the land and the gods, and
with the other container, people toasted the visitors. This custom
is maintained to this day among peasants. The representation of
the Sun consisted of a sculpture of gold that was kept in a special
place in the temple, and probably was away before the spaniards
got into the Koricancha, and saved in a site farther away. The
idol represented the Sun and was dressed with the most elegant
weavings of the Empire. This is confirmed with the findings in
a peak in Chile and other summits where mummies have been found
with finely woven clothes
This idol of the Sun was presented in all main important ceremonies.
It's necessary to remember the unknown elders of Cusco who organized
the first presentation on a stage in 1928. This outdoor presentation
was called the Defense and Taking of the Fortress of Saqsaywaman,
performed by a group of teachers who put on stage the conquest
of the site by the invaders. The main characters were, the Inca
Cahuide (a mytical character). More than 100 indians participated
acting out the defense and the custody of the Virgins of the Sun,
kept in some place around the fortress. The indians lost the battle
and Cahuide jumped from the top of the wall.
| For
the representation, the Inca and his followers wore special
customes made by a talented artist of the group. The
entire program presented on 1928 was featured on the magazine
"Mundial". President Leguia (the president at that
time) was unable to attend the presentation, and instead sent
his two daughters. The program included dances performed
by the Sikllas; country folk dancers from Urubamba; the Canchis
from Sicuani; and the Dance Mestiza Coya from Paucartambo.
The whole show was a hit much appreciated by the whole audience. |
|
Dr.
Humberto Vidal Unda, probably saw the presentation when he was
22 years old and later he presented a project to the American
Institute of Art for a future presentation of the same program
in the same area of the complex.
The Sun was considered by the Incas a divinity of the highest
rank, to whom temples were built in his honor in the most important
places of the Empire. Not only presentations were made in honor
of the Sun, but also in honor of God Kuntor (Condor), and Qoa,
Choquechinchay or Titi (Feline God).
To honor the Sun God, animals were sacrificed. Nowdays during
the ceremony of the Intiraymi there is a simulation of a sacrifice
of a llama. In a drawing made by the chronicler Guaman Poma de
Ayala, we can see how the priests take the guts of the animal
through an opening located to one side of the animal where the
priest put his hand and pulls out the heart still beating, then
the lungs are inflated by the priests and through the blood stains,
they could forecast the future for the Inca and the Empire. Similar
ceremonies are still held by the peasants, but in the original
ceremony of the Inti Raymi dozens of llamas were killed.
Other part of the celebration featured the start of the new fire.
Obeying the order of the Inca, no fire was allowed that day in
the city. The new fire was obtained through a hollow mirror and
brilliant surface that focused the rays of the sun, and projected
them to the fur of an animal, and when the fur caught fire it
was then used to start the rest of the kindling distributed in
different platforms in the main square.
90 soldiers of the National Army played the part of the Inca's
soldiers, who represent to the Inca's soldiers. Actors wear clothes
similar to those drawn in chronicles of Guaman Poma de Ayala,
with a shield in one hand and carrying on the other a stick with
a star made of wood. The soldiers also wear rubber sandals and
a helmet similar to a cap.
In the ceremony there are also 25 couples of women who represent
the acllas, but not in the original ceremony. To make the scenes
more spectacular, both, the Inca and his wife (Coya) arrived by
litter.
There was a compulsory participation of priests in the ceremony,
all of them with names according to their characters. The Wirapiricuq,
the one that took the guts, the one called Kallpa rikuq, shepherd
of the llamas for the sacrifice, the Turpuntay, or priest in charge
of the cutting with the sacred knife called Tumi, and the willaq
Uma in charge of the forecast or prediction observing the viscera
of the llama, and the one who told the Inca the good or bad news.
Before the Inca entered the plaza or the slopes of the fortress,
a group of ajllas or selected princesses led the procession along
with the pichaq, or men in charge of sweeping the floor to drive
away the bad spirits. The Inca is shown in all the documents accompanied
by a hump backed dwarf called Kumillo who carried the achiwa,
an instrument similar to an umbrella made of colorful feathers.
The festival lasted several days. Some days the Inca and his priests
and the nobility waited for dawn in the Koricancha Temple and
the other days in the Usno or Altar of the Main Square.
Before the Inca climbed to the Usno, he had to walk along a garden
of flowers and weavings of delicate clothes placed specially for
the emperor to walk over.
In these ceremonies the Inca was carried on a litter with a linen
veil, and he held a staff symbol of power taken by the Umillos
before the Inca climbed to the Usno. Later the priest and the
participants sing songs to salute the Inca and the Sun, accompanied
by the musicians.
Referring to the Unku, or the undershirt worn by the Inca, we
have samples of these displayed at the museums, where they are
shown as pectorals made with fine feathers of different colors.
Together with a fine lace tied to the mascaypacha, used on the
forehead.
During the ceremony the Inca is toasted with chicha (a fermented
drink) poured into gold containers, one for the Inca, one for
the Sun, and the third one for the mother land, mentioning also
the Apus or gods of the earth. As a fitting finale, the
Inca gives a speech in the native language quechua.
Dr. Luis Barreda Murillo
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