……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Coricancha Religious Practices
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Coricancha was an extremely sacred place for worship of the main Inca deities, the sun and moon. From the existing accounts, it is known that the practices inside the temple were strict and particular. Only priests could approach the huacas, and always dressed in white. The people would fast before entering the temple. Then the priests would receive the offerings from the people who had traveled on pilgrimages. The food was burned to “feed” the gods and items were buried in the temple or placed in sacred spaces. The priests were the ones to perform sacrifices of animals or people, based on the occasion. They would then use the organs for divination of the future or to see if the gods were pleased. The Caciques would consult with these priests about important matters, and the priests would consult with the huacas.
Festival of the Sun was a religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honor of the sun god Inti. It also marked the winter solstice and a new year in the Andes of the Southern Hemisphere.
The temple also housed virgin women known as mamaconas. They were said to be sacred to the sun and married to him. They would weave the finest fabric in the empire and would then burn it as offering to the sun. These women were also in charge of a brazier called Nina. They would only tend the fire with a specif would brought from the coast. It was a carved, painted red wood. Then each morning food was prepared before dawn and when the sun rose the mamaconas would offer Inti the food with songs as it burned. The virgins tended a small maize field as well. The irrigation was done with water carried by hand. But the special thing about this garden was during festivals they would fill the garden with actual size stalks of maize, made from gold. This is a possibility of why the temple is sometimes refereed to as the golden garden.
Guaman Poma drawing depicting the Acllas spinning
However the most important huaca at Coricancha was Punchao, “an image of the sun”. Punchao was an idol said to be the size of a man, dressed in fine fabric, with many adornments, and medallions about the face positioned to always catch the sun light. The most prominent feature was the idol contained a chalice with a dough of gold dust and the hearts of deceased Inca. It was orignally thoht that Mancio Sierra de Leqguízamo had captured Punchao amongst Atahualpa’s ransom, and then had lost it gambling. However, not many actually believed him. The true idol was later recovered when Tupac Amaru was caught; the idol was then sent to the Spanish King and has not been seen since.
