Academic research shows that Inca belief systems were integrated with their view of the cosmos, especially in terms of how the Incas observed the movements of the Milky Way and the solar system as seen from Cuzco, the Inca capital whose name meant “center of the earth” and the Inca gods were their greatest belief and veneration.
From this perspective, their stories represent the movements of constellations, planets, and planetary formations, all connected to their agricultural cycles. This was especially important to the Incas, as they depended on cyclical agricultural seasons, which were not only connected to annual cycles but to a much broader cycle of time (every 800 years at a time). This way of keeping time was deployed to ensure the cultural transmission of key information, despite regime change or social catastrophes.
Image gallery of Inca gods
Inca gods
Many Inca myths have been interpreted from Eurocentric perspectives, which separate the myths from Inca cosmology and agriculture, depriving these myths of their richness and ancient practical functionality. Let’s learn a little more about these Inca gods and their meaning.
1.- Viracocha
The Incas believed in many gods. The most important god was Viracocha (pronounced vee-ruh-koh-chuh), who created the sun, the moon, the earth, and all living things. He was the god of all other gods and could control them. The Incas did not want to anger Viracocha, otherwise he would make life more difficult for humans.
2.- Mama Cocha
Mama Cocha (pronounced mama koh-chuh), which means mother sea, is the goddess of the sea. She has power over all bodies of water, including lakes. She makes sure there are plenty of fish for fishermen. She also watches over sailors to make sure they are safe when they go out to sea. The Incas looked to Mama Cocha to give them fish to eat.
3.- Inti
Inti is the god of the sun and is the son of Viracocha and Mama Cocha. Inti was very powerful in overseeing the human world. The first Inca emperor is believed to be his son, Manco Cápac (pronounced mon-koh kah-pok). Therefore, each new emperor was a descendant of the sun god, Inti. If the Incas did not celebrate Inti, then he would not bring sunlight, which would cause the death of all life.
4.- Mama Quilla
Inca religion sun and moon Mother Quilla, the moon, was the wife of the sun, sister and mother of the Incas, and was represented by the Coyas. It was believed that Mama Quilla protected women and was worshipped alongside Inti in the temple of Coricancha, where there were four smaller chapels dedicated to her. Mama Quilla was the daughter of Wiracocha and is the third most revered figure in the Inca religion after Wiracocha and Inti.
5.- Shamans
Shamans were spiritual leaders who healed people and predicted natural disasters. They were highly respected individuals in Inca society. For centuries, shamans had passed down knowledge of the healing properties of animals and plants and applied it to the sick.
They were considered messengers between the human world and the spiritual world. Shamans remain important healers in modern Andean society.
6.- Manco Capac
The son of Inti, also a sun god. The youngest of four brothers, Manco Cápac challenged his older brother, who greedily demanded all of creation for himself. Sealing his older brother forever in a cave, Manco Cápac murdered another and frightened the third into fleeing, never to be seen again. Thus, gaining power over the entire world, Manco Cápac founded the city of Cuzco and was worshipped as the Son of the Sun.
7.- Pachamac
God of the earth, creator god. Before the Inca conquest, Peruvians worshipped Pachamac as the supreme being. For political reasons, the Incas were forced to adopt Pachamac into their own pantheon, but his position was never very secure.
The great Inca Atahualpa treated the priests of Pachamac with cold indifference, explaining to the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro that the god’s oracle had made three ruinously inaccurate prophecies. The Great Sun King even encouraged the Spaniards to desecrate and plunder the god’s temple. They accepted the invitation with enthusiasm.
8.- Supai
God of death. A god of insatiable greed. The Incas sacrificed more than a hundred children a year to Supai, and even then he would not leave them alone.
9.- Konira Wirakocha
The great god Wirkocha digitized as a traveler in rags. A trickster, a joker. No one knew who he was, and the people he came across called him by his name. However, as he walked, he created. With one word he made the fields and terraces on the hills. Dropping a cane flower, he made the water flow.
Conclusion
The Incas were a very religious people; their religious beliefs were deeply rooted in their lives, and everything they did had religious significance. They were tolerant of the beliefs of the peoples they conquered, as long as they revered the Inca deities above all their Inca gods, and even incorporated gods from other cultures.
