Andean celebrations

Inti Raymi Celebration Held in Cusco Turns 75 Years

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.

Source

Cover Photo Wikimedia

April 30, 2019

Culture · Traveling in Peru

Inti Raymi: The Famous Incan Ritual is Out of Reach for Many Locals

Many Cusco locals, or cusqueños, of indigenous roots who live in the surrounding towns have never been to the Inti Raymi celebration.

“People come from all over the world to see the Inti Raymi and we in Andahuayalillas, just 45 minutes away by bus, have never been,” said a local women named Betty.

Many of the people of Andahuaylillas and the surrounding towns of Cusco cannot afford the bus fair to get to Cusco, Betty explained. The bus fair costs two soles, the equivalent of less than US $1. To travel to Cusco and back would cost Betty four soles and if she decided to bring her son that would cost her eight soles. That money could buy dinner for her whole family.

I was haunted by a comment made by a woman named Mica. “The tourists that come here have seen more of Peru than I have,” she said in a soft voice as she put down the tiny doll dress she was stitching.

Peru is a hotspot for tourism. The country now faces the challenge of advancing in a way that is sustainable and reaches the country’s marginalized populations so that the gap between the rich and poor does not continue to grow.

Gabrielle Gorder recently graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. She is currently working at the the Q’ewar Project based in Andahuaylillas, Cusco. Read more about Gabrielle and her travels in her blog.

July 9, 2018