The Inca believed in many gods and sacred places.The god of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars was called Viracocha. People believed that the Sun was the most important retainer of Viracocha. To the Inca, Sun was the father of Inca emperor as they believed that it is the life saver. The Moon was a woman, the wife of the Sun. Farmers worshiped earth as Earth Mother, while the fishermen worshiped Mother Sea.
In additions to worshiping gods, the Inca worshiped many huacas -AKA.sacred places -which were found everywhere throughout the Inca Empire. When an emperor dies, his palace, with all his goods, was sealed and became a huaca. Battlefields, caves, springs, quarries, and even the roots were Huacas. When the Inca conquered a village and introduced new huacas, the villagers cheerfully accepted them.
Inca religious ceremonies followed the Inca calendar. The Inca lived off the land, so the seasons of the year were very important to them. Their calendar was divided into twelve months, named for important agricultural and religious events. Since the seasons south of the equator are reversed, the January of the Inca calendar was the equivalent of June on North America. The calendar year began with December, which is like May in the north. They had festivals in every month. Inca festivals were colorful.
Another significant effect on the people in South America was the spread of Christianity. As Pizarro and the Spanish subdued the continent and brought it under their control, they forcefully converted many to Christianity, claiming to have educated them in the ways of the "one true religion." With the destruction of the local populations along with the capitulation of the Inca Empire, the Spanish missionary work after colonization began was able to continue unimpeded. It took just a generation for the entire continent to be under Christian influence.
Religious traditions in the Andes tended to vary among different ayllus. While the Inca generally allowed or even incorporated local deities and heroes of the ayllus they conquered, they did bring their gods to those peoples by incorporating them in law such as required sacrifice. The Inca attempted to combine their deities with conquered ones in ways that raised the status of their own. One example of this is Pachamama, the goddess of earth, who was worshipped long before the rise of the Inca.
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People worshiping Gods
