Inti Raymi

‘This day is the great celebration. We must all rejoice. Our hearts come alive with joy, inspired by a pure air. Oh my sun! Oh my sun! Shine on us now, oh my sun! Oh my sun! Oh my sun! Send us now your warmth and let the chill disappear. Oh my sun! Oh my sun!

So sing all the performers in this re-enactment of the Inca mid-winter solstice celebration, immediately after the sun appears over the horizon – well, that’s when they’re supposed to sing it but, these days, this part of the ceremony actually takes place at about 2pm.

Every 24 June since 1944, a theatrical representation of the Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) has been held at Saqsaywaman, the Incan archaeological site 310m above Cusco. These days, it is the second largest festival in South America and attracts visitors from all over Peru, South America and the rest of the world. Today, Lynn and I and thousands of others climbed the steep streets and even steeper steps to watch the festival and welcome back the sun.

This was the culmination of a week of events and festivities in Cusco, from dancing in the streets, to parades of floats, street fairs and eating. We skipped the first parts of the day’s ceremonial events, which began with a salute to the sun by the actor playing the Inca emperor, at Qorikancha, the square in front of the Santo Domingo church which was constructed on top of the ancient Temple of the Sun. Next, the Inca emperor was carried on his replica golden throne, in a procession to the Plaza de Armas where the coca rite took place – chewing of the sacred leaves, more invocations to the sun, much vigorous dancing.

The procession then proceeded to the ancient fortress of Saqsaywaman. All the performers in the sacred rituals – the Inca emperor, the high priests, the court officials, nobles and soldiers of the imperial army – were dressed in colourful and elaborate costumes. At Saqsaywaman, in front of the huge waiting crowds, the emperor climbed to the sacred altar where all could see him. There were speeches by the emperor, the priests and representatives of the Suyos: the Snake for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods. There were energetic dances by the various troupes who accompanied the procession. There was much chanting, like that above, to welcome back the sun.

In a very realistic stage act, a llama was sacrificed and the high priest paraded around the sacred altar holding aloft the bloody heart in honour of Pachamama, the earth mother. Apparently, this is done to ensure the fertility of the earth which, in combination with the light and warmth from the sun, provides a bountiful crop. The priests also read the blood stains to predict the future of the Inca empire. I wonder if they foresaw the coming of the Spanish?

In the rite of the sacred fire, stacks of straw were set on fire and the celebrants danced around them to honour Tawantinsuty or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions, and in the rite of Sankhu, the emperor, his priests and officials sampled a ritual food made of maize paste and the blood of the sacrificed llama. The ceremonies finished with everyone dancing in jubilation – and those of us with numb bums and cramping leg muscles from sitting for several hours, finally able to stand up.

It was an incredibly colourful celebration. Equally interesting was the crowd, squashed together on every available piece of ground, eating the picnic lunches they had brought along or the food they bought from the various vendors constantly jostling through the crowds, chatting to family and friends. We made friends with some young Peruvians sitting next to us – 17-year-old Christopher kept trying out his English on us, and they insisted on taking photos of each other with us before we left.



It was this big!

Also interesting were the poisonous spiders! After we’d been sitting on our scrubby, dusty hillside for about 30 minutes, we noticed the girls in front of us jump up in alarm, quickly brush down their clothes, and chatter excitedly to each other while looking around the area where they’d been sitting. Eventually, they sat back down. Another 30 minutes later, I noticed a rather large spider run up the tshirt of a guy near us, over his backpack and down onto the ground again. Not long after this, the two women to my left started talking and pointing at something on the ground – presumably the spider had resurfaced. But this time, I asked the woman closest to me what it was. She replied in rapid Spanish, then, realising I didn’t understand, mimed a spider with her fingers, jabbed one finger into my leg, then slid the finger across her throat. The message was obvious – this little critter was poisonous! Luckily, he wasn’t feeling hungry today – or maybe the sun god had listened to the prayers of the emperor and his priests and brought good luck to us all!

'Sexy woman'?

The view back over the city as we climbed

Red-faced and almost hyperventilating, I finally reached the Incan archaeological site Saqsaywaman, pronounced by tourists ‘Sexy woman’. It’s located 310 metres above Cusco so, for us altitude-challenged gringos, it’s quite a hike up steep streets and even steeper stone stairways. Of course, the sensible tourists get delivered to the site entrance in air-conditioned coaches, but mad dogs (that must be me!) and Englishmen (that would be Mat) go out in the midday sun (actually it was about 9 am).

It was a challenge but well worth it. According to the pamphlet, ‘The remains and foundations of a colossal structure, it features three-tiered defence walls made of stones that fit with razor-sharp precision. Saqsaywaman means Satiate Falcon. It was built in some 77 years (1431-1508) under the rule of the Incas Tupac Yupanki and Wayna Qhapaq. From 1537 to 1561 the site was used as a quarry by the Spaniards to build a cathedral, a number of temples and their own houses.'

'Four well-defined sections may be clearly identified: the fortress or walls, built with Cyclopean stonemasonry arranged in zigzags that face the second section; the so-called Chuquipampa Square, which is actually an open grassy levelled ground; ...the fortified towers; and the Suchuna hill, located opposite the walls. ... The largest stone weighs about 70 tons!' The way the stones fit together so perfectly is certainly amazing and I have no idea how the Incans built with such precision.

 

On top of the hill adjacent to Saqsaywaman is Cusco’s version of Rio’s statue of Christ the Redeemer, so Mat and I climbed up there for a look as well. Near the statue are three crosses – presumably representing the three crosses at the crucifixion of Christ – but these were ‘dressed’ in richly embroidered garments. Beneath the statue, the usual group of souvenir sellers sat patiently waiting for tourists to purchase their wares and, parked in the car park area, was a former city tram, which has been converted for use as a motorised vehicle to transport tourists around the major sites.

Needless to say, the walk back down to the city centre was MUCH easier than the walk up, and I felt entirely justified in devouring a huge lunch of guacamole and tortilla chips at an excellent vegetarian restaurant we discovered.

The tourist ticket we’d purchased at Saqsaywaman gives us access to many different archaeological sites and museums and only lasts for 10 days, so we decided to visit a couple of museums after lunch. First was the Museum of Popular Art, exhibiting a bizarre collection of small sculptures, ceramics, photography and other works by contemporary Cusco craftsmen. The most popular subjects were, understandably, religious – the nativity featured strongly, with alpacas and llamas instead of the more traditional donkeys; St George fought the dragon; grotesque images of Christ hung on crosses; and various saints beamed out from shiny gilded frames.

Next was the Qorikancha site museum. The Qorikancha, which means golden courtyard in the local Quechua language, was apparently the richest and potentially most important temple in the Incan empire. It was built in the mid-15th century, much of it was covered in gold, and there were also solid gold statues. Of course, soon after the arrival of the Spanish in 1533, the gold was melted down and, in 1534, Qorikancha was turned over to the Dominicans who dismantled much of the temple and used the site (and the stones) to build the Convento de Santo Domingo. Only the smooth basalt foundations, typical of Incan architecture, still remain.

Convento de Santo Domingo

The museum is under the old temple site, in small cramped ill-lit rooms, which don’t exactly encourage visitors. There were some interesting exhibits, however. Skulls, and photos of skulls, showed the Incan practice of trepanation, skeletons crouched tightly into foetal positions alongside large pottery urns showed Incan burial practices, and then there were also several bizarre cone-shaped skulls. ‘Aliens in Cusco?’, I asked myself. But, no, apparently Incans of wealthy lineage were into binding with bandages the heads of their babies and young children to create these strange shapes. No one quite knows why. It was almost a relief to escape the museum and emerge back into the sunshine!