On June 24, the Inti Raymi celebration takes place in Cusco as a tribute to the highest divinity of the Tawantinsuyo: the Sun God, or Inti in Quechua.
“The story tells that this festival was instituted by the Inca Pachacutec in the fifteenth century. It began as a religious-cultural tradition that was celebrated every winter solstice in honor of the Sun, and now, six centuries later, it has become a ceremony of tourist and cultural interest”, Turista Magazine said.
According to the mayor of Cusco, Víctor Boluarte Medina, on June 24 the Earth is farthest from the sun and the Inti Raymi festival comes as a gratitude to the Sun or Inti god.
“Prohibited during colonial times, it took more than 400 years before the Inti Raymi was reinstated in Cusco in 1944”, the aforementioned magazine said. “Of course, it was reinstated with variations in relation to the original rite”, they continued.
Currently, the imposing ceremony involves more than 700 actors and is performed in its three usual scenarios (Qorikancha, Plaza de Armas and Saqsaywaman) and constitutes an act that attracts multiple tourists.
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