Celebrating Inti Raymi at Machu Picchu
If you’re thinking of attempting the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, but can’t decide on the time of year to attend, then why not team it up with the ancient Incan festival of Inti Raymi.
Machu Picchu was an important place for sun worship during the Incan era and as a civilization that held the sun in such high regard, you can imagine that for the Incas, winter was not a pleasant time of year. They feared that the annual disappearance of the sun would mean the onslaught of famine and to prevent this from happening would take an annual pilgrimage to Cuzco to honour the sun god and plead for his quick return. This ceremony was perhaps the most important in the Incan calendar and known as ‘Inti Raymi’, or ‘The Festival of the Sun’.
Before the ceremony, celebrants would fast for days and refrain from all forms of physical pleasure. Gifts would then be presented to the Sapa Inca, who would put on a lavish feast of chichi, corn bread and meat, in exchange for a few slaughtered llamas. Slaughtering llamas was important to ensure fertile lands and plentiful crops for the year ahead. Even today you will see many llamas on the Inca trail trek and Peruvians still hold them with the highest regard for the part they played in shaping the Inca Empire.
In 1572, the Spaniards invaded Peru and banned the celebration of Inti Raymi, deeming it ‘pagan’ and not in line with their strict Catholic faith. However, with the hordes of tourists travelling to Peru to attempt the Inca trail, the event has been resurrected and now takes place at Cuzco every year on 24 June. With Cuzco as the main starting point on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, the event attracts both its fair share of tourists and locals
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