History and experience of the Inti Raymi festival

My family and I spent several weeks in South American last summer and one of the highlights of our trip was attending the second largest and most famous festival in Peru. The Inti Raymi Festival is an annual majestic pageant that is held on June 24 every year in the beautiful and historical city of Cusco, Peru. The festival honors Apu Inti Tayta, the Sun God of the Incas. June 24 signifies the winter solstice and is considered to be the most important date of the year. Peruvian legend tells the story that Apu Inti Tayta’s children, Manco Capac and Mam Ocllo were created from Lake Titicaca and founded Inca Dynasty and Cusco.

This splendid festival recreates the glorious and historical Inca rituals. The main event last for about five hours and takes place in Sacsayhuaman Palza near Cusco. Thousands of native Incas, dressed in their traditional costumes, recreate the original ceremony that honors Apu Inti Tayta, the Sun God. The Inca God is transported from the Temple of the Sun to the center of the city. Then, the festival reenacts the sacrificing of two llamas. This is truly a reenactment and no llamas are harmed during the festival. The Inca traditions are that the llamas were used to predict the events of the coming year. Inca dancers dressed in brilliant red and gold entertain the tourist and signal the close of the event. The official ceremony ends at sundown, but the real celebration is just starting and will last for days.

We arrived in Cusco on June 20 and the festivities were already underway several days before the main pageant. There were main events happening in the Plaza de Armas. Every day there was a different street parade to watch. My children loved watching the parades and buying traditional looking Inca items for the many street vendors in the plaza. The restaurants that line the plaza are delicious and most of them serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We found a great restaurant with a balcony and the kids had a great view of the parades. The parades seemed to last for hours and the kids never got tired of seeing all of the beautifully colored costumes. Some of the parades even had floats with Inca dancers performing as the parade made its way through the plaza. A few of the traditional masks were a little scary for my younger son.

We have a teenager daughter who was adopted from Peru and The Inti Raymi Festival was a great way for her to experience the culture of her birth country during our trip to South America. If you are planning a trip to Peru or South America, it is well worth it to plan your trip around this once a year magnificent festival.

Peru Hotel Deals, Fair Prices

Peru has 24 departments and a population of 28 millions people. As you can see, there are several places to choose. This time our first destination would be Chiclayo. Chiclayo is well known as “The City of the Friendship” and it is Peru’s fourth largest city. Chiclayo is located in the northwest of Peru, exactly in the region of Lambayeque. Chiclayo is capital of Lambayeque’s department and has beautiful attraction as will see.



“El Señor de Sipan” is the principal attraction in this town. Today, there is a complete museum with all its history. Remember, all cities in the Incas country have Peru Hotel Deals to have a nice stay. The Mochica Culture (Moche) also was developed in these lands. Chiclayo was founded in 1835 by the Peruvian general Felipe Santiago Salaverry almost 300 years after the foundation of Lambayeque in 1500. However, Chiclayo reached greater notoriety for its great trade and the consequent development of the city.



Lima is located in the middle of the country and is full of Peru Hotel Deals. If you like cold climate, Puno is one alternative to explore a city with different characteristics than Chiclayo. Puno is located southeast of Peru, in the border with Bolivia. Actually both countries share the famous Titicaca Lake. This huge lake looks more an ocean than a lake. Puno’s people are descendants of the Aymara.



According to legend, Puno was also the cradle of Inca civilization. Manco Capac, the first Inca, rose from the waters of Titicaca Lake, under the orders of the Sun God for founding the Inca Empire. Puno was legitimately founded in 1668 by a Spanish viceroy, as a result of the discovery of silver mines in the zone. The Puno’s history is very wide an interesting to explore and study.



Peru Hotel Deals is a good option during your holidays in this country.