The Gods of the Incas

When the Inca conquered surrounding peoples, they brought their deities as well. They usually did not stop the conquered peoples from worshipping their own gods and goddesses, but required that the Inca deities be added to the pantheon and that their position be the supreme one.

Viracocha was the Creator god of the Inca, and was considered the most important of the gods. He was also revered by the people of Tiahuanco near Lake Titcaca. He was considered the maker of the Earth and its creatures. He was called in Quechua, Wiraqocha Pachayachach, which translates as the ¨Creator of All Things.¨

Inti, or Apu Punchaur, was shown as a golden disk with a face and is the Inca god of the sun. He is a male god, and is sometimes shown also as a boy (Punchao) who is seated, with rays shooting off from his head. The Punchao statue was used as a receptacle to burn the innards of dead rulers; the god Inti was considered to receive the sacrifice in this way.

Every major region in the Empire possessed a temple dedicated to the worship of Inti, and his priest was the most powerful of all the clergy. The priest of Inti was always a member of the royal family, or was sometimes the Inca himself. He led the annual festival dedicated to Inti, which was associated with the harvest of choclo, or maize. A black and a white llama were sacrificed to the Sun God during this festival, and its re-enactment can be seen on June 24th in Cusco at the Inti Raymi festival that takes place above the city in the ruin of Sacsayhuaman.

Another important Inca god was Chiqui Illapa, or the God of Thunder. He was portrayed as a man in the sky, with a war club in one hand and a sling in the other hand. He was the ruler of Thunder and Lightening. The phenomenon of lightning was thought to be stones projected from his sling. He was the god who ruled rain, which he derived from the Milky Way, called the Celestial River by the Incas. When the Incas needed rain, they directed their prayers to Chiqui Illapa.

Mama Quilla, or the Moon Mother, was Inti´s wife. She was the protector of women, and the creator of the calendar and religious festivals. In some societies in the coastal regions of South America, she was worshipped above Inti. She had a temple in Cusco and her own priestesses. The dark spots we can see on the moon were supposed to be produced by Mama Quilla squeezing a fox who had tried to claim her for his wife against her body. She is represented as a silver disc with a human face.

Other Inca deities include the Pachamama, the Mother Earth, worshipped by farmers for bountiful harvests. She is the ruler of sowing, reaping and fertility. Her husband is called Pachacamac, who rules over the arts, work and oracles. Mamacocha is the Mother Ocean; Supai is the god of the underworld and death. Chaska is Venus, the star goddess, who protects princesses, girls and flowers.
There were three worlds in the religion of the Inca; Hanan Pacha, the sky world, where the gods lived, and any dead people who were considered worthy to dwell with them; Kay Pacha, the world of the Earth, where the regular earth people dwelled, and Uqhu Pacha, the underworld of the dead and the unborn. The sacred serpent was the ruler of the underworld.
Worship of the Inca gods is still conducted in South America to this day, at times alongside of that of the Christian deities introduced by the Conquistadors.