Inti Raymi: June is here… It’s the Sun Party!

Compartir

It happens every year in June, when the winter solstice takes place in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a time when all the Andean families and lots of visitors get together to celebrate the Incan’s main festivity: the Inti Raymi –meaning “the Sun’s solemn resurrection” in quichua– is a gratitude ceremony to thank the gods for the collected crops. It is a moment where History is renewed and passed on to the new generations. During three days, people are shown how the greatest festivity of South America’s largest kingdom was like. If we ask the residents about it, they would tell us a story that would go like this:

Five hundred years ago, the Incas that inhabited the Andes believed the winter solstice was not only a moment to thank the gods for the wealthy crops, but also a moment to remember their origins. The party was rigorously prepared: it started when the political leaders or curacas arrived to the place where the celebration would take place, dressed up with their best outfits and taking with them the most modern inventions as an offering to the Sun god. During the three days of celebration, the whole village had to follow three simple rules: to eat only the strictly necessary; to keep from starting up any kind of fire; and to keep from having sexual relations.

Once the day had come, the highest-ranked chief and his family would wait early in the morning for the sun to rise, which indicated the beginning of the main praising ritual. Everyone would get on their knees, presenting their offerings and drinking a toast with the Inca’s traditional drink: the chicha. After that, the celebration started: the attendants would have a taste of the meat of a sacrificed animal, cooked by the fire created  with solar rays that where concentrated through the chief’s golden bracelet; and they would drink great amounts of chicha during the three party days. The legend says that if a child with noble Incan descendants was to be born during those days, he would become the Empire’s new leader.

Nowadays in Ecuador, the celebration of Inti Raymi starts every 21th of June. It is a real cultural celebration that brings back to life the country’s ancient history. The town of Ingapirca gets filled with life: there are children playing and bathing in the river; men dressed up in colorful traditional garments and wearing masks, dancing to the rhythm of Andean music; women in shiny, embroidered dresses; handcrafts on sale; and fresh, delicious traditional dishes. Here, the visitor will be always welcomed by the warmth of the Ecuadorian people.


Photo: Presidencia de la República del Ecuador

31 Miles Along the Royal Inca Trail

Compartir

The Royal Inca Trail or “Qhapaq Ñan” is the name of the most extensive and highly advanced transportation system of the pre-Columbian South America, a main road with several branches joining the nations of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. It is an impressive 23,000km (14.291mi) system of roads built by the Incas, and it connected the northern city of Quito with the south of Chile.

One of the most famous treks of this road is probably the one that goes from the village of Achullapas to the village of Ingapirca, recently called “The Culebrillas Trail”. It is a 50km (31mi) portion of the road that hasn’t changed much in the past five centuries, where the historical characteristics are still conserved. This hike can be done in 2-3 days and follows the original royal road, with altitudes ranging from 3200m to 4500m (10.500 to 14.800ft) above the sea level. At the Andean high lands, perennial rain is expected all along this historical trail that goes through breathtaking landscapes and archeological discoveries.  The original Inca roadways are found here. Some of them got paved with stone, but most of them remain the natural dirt pathways, of 1-4meters (3-13ft) wide.

From start to end, this route unveils five hundred years of history. The starting point, Achullapas, is a place that served as an Inca fortress for the expansion of the empire to the north of the continent. One first gets amazed by the route that goes through the fabulous valley of the Cadrul River, the Las Tres Cruces Lake and the ruins of Cuchishiana, an archeological vestige whose function is still controversial.

Following the road, at 4,350m (14.271ft) high, there is mountainous formation called the Nudo del Azuay or Quimsacruz, that is the highest land point on Ecuador. A certain number of rectangular structures that belonged to a Chasquihuasi (Chasqui House) or a Tambo (a resting place) are found there, as well as big rock mounts called “Apachitas” that evidence the Inca tradition of offering a rock in a propitiatory ritual to continue their trip.

After this point, there are at least two possible pathways to take: The one that goes through the valley of Espindola – not usable during extended rainy periods –, and the shortcut parallel to the Espindola pathway that goes through the top of the valley. This route goes across the Cachapampa plain and the Sontzahuín torrent before arriving to the Culebrillas valley, home of the mystic Culebrillas Lake. To cross the Sontzahuín torrent, there is a wooden footbridge that seems to date back to the Incas period.

The Culebrillas (little snakes) Lake was called this way because of the 800m (2.624 feet) zigzag formation of the river that feeds the lake. Home to a wild duck colony, the lake’s clean and transparent waters were considered sacred by the Cañaris, who used to throw there handcrafted objects and ritual ceramics in commemoration to their ancestors.

The lake features a number of elements that feed its mystery such as a stone stairway that enters the lake 30m (98ft) deep from the river shore; a big stone platform; and a recently discovered construction made from carved stone. At a depth of 4,000m (13.123ft), there is an Inca quarry or “Labrashca Rumi” full of hundreds of carved stones waiting forever to be carried to their destination. At the opposite shore and close to the lake, the old Tambo de Paredones is located. It is an important resting place that served also as a military spot with vast accommodations for the troops and warehouses for goods, arms and clothes.

Past the lake, the road leads to the village of San Jose. It takes about a two hour walk from there until you reach the end of the road at Ingapirca, the biggest Inca complex built in the current Ecuadorian territory.

Nominated by UNESCO for its World Heritage List, the Royal Trails are a meeting point for those who take the chance to travel by foot through this challenging landscape. They are a place of encounter for men and women from different horizons, a place where man faces nature and revives the past. What once was a means of conquest today becomes a symbol of unity between nations and their history.

Photo: afroboof

Ingapirca: An Inca Secret 1200mi North of Machu Picchu

Compartir

Five hundred years ago, the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac constructed a building complex called Ingapirca, or Inca’s Wall. It remains a living testimony that unveils a lost culture that once was, in fact, bigger than the Roman Empire.

In the Ecuadorian city of Cañar, 1200mi north from Machu Picchu, this magnificent construction was erected between valleys and mountains where llamas and alpacas graze, a place among eucalyptus and potato fields covered by the fog and the modest rain.

When arriving to Ingapirca, the contrast of colors between the landscape and the construction is the first thing that gets the attention. It’s impossible not to wonder what did the place look like five hundred years ago, when there where buildings such as a room constructed in alignment with the moon where religious rituals and cults to this natural satellite took place; a big plaza used for celebrations that could gather more than 3000 people; an exclusive area for “The Sun Virgins”, women chosen at the age of 12 to serve the High Priests that would sometimes cook the meals for the sun festival; and a room used only for the priests’ prayers.

Perhaps the most impressive construction of this complex is the Ingapirca Castle, which is the only known oval-shaped Inca building, erected as a cult to the Sun god. The perfect alignment with the sun (at 0°) that the Incas made with this construction provides the best illumination for its rooms during the solstices of June and December. This also reveals their advanced astrological knowledge.

In the surroundings of Ingapirca we can appreciate some elements that feed the mystery of this culture. Such is the case of the “Inca Face”, a mountainous formation that reveals a possibly genuine shape of a face. Another element is the “Moon Calendar”, a stone with several holes that were filled with water, serving as mirrors where the Incas could see the moon’s reflection and in this way tell the date. Finally, there is the “Inca Trail”, a 31mi route (3 days walking distance) starting at the village of Achullapas and leading to Ingapirca. This route allows us to see and live the same trail the Incas once walked.

All these astonishing features take us to the time where the king, the priests, the Inca society, their buildings and the environment, all interacted to create the legend of The Incas, a culture that, in spite of being already extinct, still surprises us. As you will discover, Ingapirca is an archaeological complex that connects us with the Inca experience. It is not just about its construction, but also about its culture. It’s an encounter with the world’s origins and with ourselves, a feeling of inner peace.

Ingapirca is a journey to ancient times, and what is experienced there, becomes unforgettable. At the end of the visit, and according to the Incas’ belief, a part of the visitor stays in the place, as a part of the Inca soul stays in the visitor.

Photo: jrubinic