Religion in the Inca Empire
Religion was extremely important in Aztec life. They worshipped many gods and goddesses, each of whom ruled one or more human activities or aspects of nature. The people had many agricultural gods because their culture was based heavily on farming. They also included natural elements and ancestor-heroes.
What were the Incas beliefs and worships?
The Inca worshipped many gods and goddesses. They believed every mountain peak was either the home of a god or an actual god. All the Inca had one or more little statues in their homes that housed a little spirit that looked after them. They knew little gods lurked everywhere. They prayed to their beloved gods every day. The Incas believed in omens and signs and the power of their dreams. They believed in an afterlife. They mummified their dead, During some festivals, they carried around mummified bodies. The moon was a woman, the wife of the sun. The Inca believed that the eclipse of the moon was caused by a great serpent or mountain lion trying to devour her. To frighten the serpent off the moon, the Incas pointed their weapons at it and shouted.
They worshipped their gods by human sacrifices. Priests presided over sacrifices, an important part of many rituals and ceremonies. The majority of the sacrifices involved animals such as llamas or guinea pigs. However, in times of disaster or at very sacred ceremonies, a woman or a child might be sacrificed to the gods. These people would be given chicha, a thick beer made from fermented corn to drink in golden goblets while the priest sang songs of their virtue before they were strangled. The bodies of the sacrificed were then buried in a cocoon of fine textiles and surrounded by gold and silver statues, bags of corn and other offerings.
(figure 1 above shows a well known Incan temple.)
This video shows you the journey inside an Incan temple.
They worshipped their gods by human sacrifices. Priests presided over sacrifices, an important part of many rituals and ceremonies. The majority of the sacrifices involved animals such as llamas or guinea pigs. However, in times of disaster or at very sacred ceremonies, a woman or a child might be sacrificed to the gods. These people would be given chicha, a thick beer made from fermented corn to drink in golden goblets while the priest sang songs of their virtue before they were strangled. The bodies of the sacrificed were then buried in a cocoon of fine textiles and surrounded by gold and silver statues, bags of corn and other offerings.
(figure 1 above shows a well known Incan temple.)
This video shows you the journey inside an Incan temple.
Did they have special ceremonies and festivals? What did they do in them?
There were many festivals in The Inca empire. In fact about once a month, the priests held huge Festivals. That was the common people's day or days off from work. Everyone went to the celebration. It was a festival, put on by the government, in honor of the gods. Some festivals ran more than one day. The Inca conducted sacrifices at every festival. But they only sacrificed people if something really huge was going on, such as war. Each June, the Incas held their most important festival - the festival of the Sun. The people believed the Sun was holding this festival. So everyone wore their best and feasted and were happy. All the nobles came to Cusco. The Sapa Inca was the host. This was the festival each year that saved the world and kept the sun happy. The festival lasted nine days, but it was on the fourth day that the Incas did something delightful. On the fourth day, everyone in the empire would stretch out their arms to the sun and make kissing noises, to make sure the sun knew how grateful they were.
Every winter the Incas celebrated the feast of Inti-raymi on the shortest day of the year. The emperor was carried on a golden thrown into the Temple of the Sun, which was filled with sculptures of golden llamas and cornstalks. White llamas were sacrificed to the sun. Priests threw kisses to the sun and tried to capture their God by tying him to a stone pillar called the Intihuatana.
Inca religious ceremonies followed the Inca calendar. The seasons of the year were very important to the Inca, because they lived off the land. Their calendar was divided into twelve lunar months, named for important agricultural and religious events. Since the seasons south of the equator are reversed, the January of the Inca calendar was the equivalent of June on North America. The calendar year began with December, which is like May in the north. Every month they had one more festivals. Inca festivals were colorful.
Every winter the Incas celebrated the feast of Inti-raymi on the shortest day of the year. The emperor was carried on a golden thrown into the Temple of the Sun, which was filled with sculptures of golden llamas and cornstalks. White llamas were sacrificed to the sun. Priests threw kisses to the sun and tried to capture their God by tying him to a stone pillar called the Intihuatana.
Inca religious ceremonies followed the Inca calendar. The seasons of the year were very important to the Inca, because they lived off the land. Their calendar was divided into twelve lunar months, named for important agricultural and religious events. Since the seasons south of the equator are reversed, the January of the Inca calendar was the equivalent of June on North America. The calendar year began with December, which is like May in the north. Every month they had one more festivals. Inca festivals were colorful.
Figure 3 shows a picture of a special ceremony or festival in the Incan Empire.
Did they build monuments to please their Gods, and how did these monuments represent their religion?
The Inca built many beautiful temples to worship their gods. The most important temple was the Coricancha built in the heart of the city of Cuzco to the sun god, Inti. The walls and floors were covered with sheets of gold. There were also gold statues and a huge gold disc that represented Inti. Corichancha means "Golden Temple".
In the Incan temples were constructed of stone and were often highly carved. In general, because of the available technology as well as the religious belief, they were stair-stepped pyramids, with the shrine at the top. Chichén Itzá, the ruins of which remain in the Yucatán Peninsula, has excellent examples of this type of pre-Columbian temple.
The video down below explains the reason to one of the most famous temples called the temple of the sun.
In the Incan temples were constructed of stone and were often highly carved. In general, because of the available technology as well as the religious belief, they were stair-stepped pyramids, with the shrine at the top. Chichén Itzá, the ruins of which remain in the Yucatán Peninsula, has excellent examples of this type of pre-Columbian temple.
- Shrine: the shrine on topany structure or place devoted to some saint, holy person or god as an altar, chapel, church or temple. So in this case its a structure on top of a temple.
The video down below explains the reason to one of the most famous temples called the temple of the sun.
Who played important roles in religion?
The most powerful person in the Inca religion and the second most powerful person in the empire was the Villac Umu,or chief priest. He was generally a brother or close relative of the Sapa Inca and was in charge of every priest in the Inca empire. The chief priest chose ten bishops ( Someone who is ranked higher than a priest)—one for each of the religious districts in the empire; all the bishops were Incas. Within the districts, the priests were generally family members of the local leaders, or curacas. In Cuzco the Villac Umu had a staff of about four thousand religious officials to help him run the state religion.
What was heaven, hell and after life like?
The Inca believed that the heavens were divided into four quarters. If a person lived a good life they lived in the part of heaven with the sun where there was plenty of food and drink and they could participate in the lives of the descendents. If they lived a bad life they had to live in the underworld where it was cold and they only had rocks to eat.
What were their Gods like?
There were two main Inca gods: Inti and Viracocha (Wiracocha). Viracocha was the supreme god. The word "Viracocha" meant something like "sea foam". The Incas believed that after God Paricia had flooded the World, Viracocha had revived it. The flooding was created by Paricia because people had been unkind and unfaithful to him. After the flood, Viracocha had created people out of clay and had created languages and songs for them. The Sun, Moon and stars were also created by Viracocha, who has assigned them places on the sky. When Viracocha wasn't venerated by its followers who has lost their faith, the god punished them by turning them into stone. Viracocha has two sons. The Incas believed that his sons could walk on water. The other important god was Inti, the Sun God. The Incas believed that Inti had descendants on Earth, this was the royal Inca family. Inti was often represented on gold-made Sun-representing disks. On those disks, the sun had a human face. Inti had 4 sons and was believed to have been the ancestor of the Incas.
Figure 5 shows a table of God in other words Deity names, and their role. |
Figure 3 shows the picture of Virococha. As for figure 4 it shows the picture of Into the sun god
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What were their Myths, legends and omens?
The Incas were polytheists (they had more than one god). Interestingly, the Incas have even considered their emperors as demigods, people with special connection with the gods. There were many Inca gods and there was a main god, called Viracocha. He was above every other god, he had the biggest power.
Myths:
Myths:
- One of the main Inca creation myths was that of the Ayar Brothers, who emerged from a cave called Pacaritambo. This house was located on Tambotoco Hill. It had three windows. According to the myth, the group of Maras Sutic emerged from one of the windows, called Maras Toco ("without parents") by spontaneous generation .
- Another theory held by more obscure groups, tending to dwell on the mysticism of South American Indians is that Pacaritambo is a quasi-mythical place believed by these historians to have been flooded by Lake Titicaca. Chronicles like the one of Guaman Poma (Hawk Puma in English) entered Tambo Toco and from there eight Inca brothers and sisters came out... Those eight brothers and sisters came out of Pacari Tanbo and they went to their idol huaca of Uana Cauri, coming from Collau towards the city of Cuzco".
The figure in this Inca textile wears a decorative headress with a sky dragon. Worship of the sun and sky played a central role in the mythology and religion of the Inca people.