26 June, 2017 - 23:09 Theodoros Karasavvas
Ancient Inca Festival Celebrating Sun God, Once Practiced in Secret, is Revived in Peru
Every year on June 24, Cusco in Peru celebrates the Inti Raymi, a tribute festival to the venerated Inca Sun God Inti. As TRT World reports , the festival draws thousands of local and international guests to the ancient Inca capital to commemorate one of the most significant events of the calendar year.
During Inca times, more than twenty-five thousand people would gather in Cusco to celebrate the festival of Inti Raymi. The Sapa Inca (Inca Emperor), nobles and priests of the Inca Empire would gather in Haukaypata (a great square at the center of the city) to witness a parade of cloth wrapped ancestral mummies that were brought from nearby temples and shrines. As many as two-hundred llamas would be sacrificed during the festivities and the Haukaypata would be literally filled with ‘sacred blood’ and plentiful chicha (the Inca beer). The festivities took place from dawn to dusk. There were special dances and coca leaves were read and burnt in great quantities. Inti Raymi was the greatest Inca festival of the year and everyone who attended became drunk with spiritual communion.
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/ancient-inca-festival-celebrating-sun-god-once-practiced-secret-revived-021459
