the year. During this festival, Inca boys went through their puberty rites as they entered adulthood. Additionally, public events of drinking, dancing, and eating llama blood cakes occurred to venerate the Sun god. Inti Raymi, perhaps the second most important festival, occurred during the month with June’s solstice. Like the Qhapag Raymi, the Inti Raymi focused on celebrating the Sun god, with day-long chanting that escalated at noon and diminished till sunset. The festival lasted eight or nine days and was filled with offerings of chicha, coca, and other items that venerated the Sun god. At the end of the festival, the Inca ruler was the first to plow the earth, signaling the beginning of the plowing season. In the month of Qoya Raymi the Situa, a ceremony of purification, was performed that started in Cuzco and expanded out in the four directions. Performed in the rainy season, due to a higher number of illnesses, residents of Cuzco beat each other with torches and shook clothing outside to rid themselves of disease. Then four groups of 100 people left with sacrificial ashes along the four roads out of Cuzco, the roads of Kollasuyu, Chinchaysuyu, Antisuyu, and Cuntisuyu. The runners took the ashes along these roads and passed them off to people of lesser social status who continued the carrying of the burden. When they reached a designated area, they would bathe in a river, ridding Cuzco and its peoples of impurities. See also Inca Empire Inca mythology Inca cuisine Spanish conquest of Peru Huarochirí Manuscript Muisca religion References Reading list Sullivan, E. Lawrence. Native Religions and Cultures of Central and South America. New York and Londo: Continuum, 1997. MacCormack, Sabine. Religion in the Andes. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Press, 1991. "pre-Columbian civilizations." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19 Sept 2006. Conrad, Geoffrey W. Religion and Empire: the dynamics of Aztec and Inca expansionism. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Pugh, Helen Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire. 2020. External links Inca Religion - World History Encyclopedia "Inca Religion", Elliott Shaw (General Editor), Overview of World Religions, PHILTAR, University of Cumbria Ethnic religion Polytheism History of religion in South America