Young Acllas

Acllas were taught from a very young age that it is crucial they remain a virgin for the rest of their lives, unless taken as a wife to the Sapa Inca. The Acllas and Sapa Inca`s wives were highly respected in their communities and over the realm. The ritual of sacrificing women and keeping virgins in the temple of Inti originated in the Incan myth of Inti that he was a man of unique desires and required virgins. This religious ritual evolved to a tradition to honor the Sun god or Inti. The Inca believed themselves to be children of the Sun, males were descendents of the sun and females descend from the moon or coya.This religious tradition evolved thru the history of the empire until the Spanish arrived in 1492. The Spanish looked upon this ritual as barbaric and eventually the religious tradition of sacrificing the brides was abolished. Today Andean peoples still worship the Sun however they no longer sacrifice young virgin women to Inti. Present day relevance to this topic is those whom are educated in private catholic school systems . Specific relationship to the themes developed in class are the religious beliefs and practices is the Incan belief that the deities need to be feed and they demanded sacrifices from the Inca peoples. The Inca united their realm under one common god Inti to bring a sense of togetherness to the realm (p.188.Abbott)

The need for Acllas and “brides of the Sun” came from an Incan myth that says that the sun god had unique needs and required virgin brides.The story says that the Sun god sent his agent to select the most beautiful virgins from all the provinces. These girls were chosen at age of ten. They were chosen for their beauty, rank and virginity. Once chosen neither the women nor their parents could object because being selected for this was to be considered a privileged in Incan society, the title of Acllas was to be viewed as an honor. The girls were alienated from their communities and viewed as “brides of the Sun” (p.188.Abbott).