User:Harvestridge/sandbox

Important beliefs
Ancestor worship has been a staple of Andean society before, during, and after the Inca Empire. The traditional communities of the Andes are known as ayllu which are familial clans that trace their origins to a common ancestor. A form of ancestor worship practiced by the Inca was the mummification and respect for their deceased relatives' remains. These mummies would be provided food, drink, clothing, and valuable items, they were considered links to the family and the gods and were consulted when the family needed spiritual advice.[7] The panaqa was a family formed by all of the descendants of the king, Sapa Inka with only the son and heir being excluded from this family. The reason for this is so the Auqui, crown prince, forms his own panaqa. One of the major functions of the panaqa was to maintain the mummy and the memory of the deceased Sapa Inca.

Important Places
The most important temple in the Inca Empire was known as Coricancha ("The Golden Temple" in the Quechuan language) which was located in the heart of Incan Cusco and according to Inca legend was built by Manco Cápac as a place of worship for the principal deity of the Inca, the sun god Inti. During the reign of Pachacuti this temple was the home of the riches of the Inca Empire, housing gold, important religious artifacts, and gilded effigies of important Incan deities. The Coricancha being in the heart of Cusco, which is in the heart of the Inca Empire, is the point of convergence of the 41 pathways leading out of Cusco into the rest of the empire with a system called ceque, which served a political, religious, and administrative role in the Inca Empire. The Coricancha was the site of important religious ceremonies, such as during the Inti Raymi in which after a procession through Cusco, the Sapa Inka would enter the Coricancha. In the temple concave mirrors would focus the sun's rays to light a fire for the sacrifice of llamas and in certain circumstances, children to please and pay tribute to the gods. The Coricancha also functioned as an observatory for the Inca, as it aligned with the sun on important days of the year such as solstices and equinoxes, alining the heavens and the earth, an important theme in the beliefs and religion of the Inca. Coricancha's use as an observatory was also useful for understanding when in the year the Inca were, and what food would be available throughout the year.

Inca Symbols
Inti - The Incan sun god which became the principal deity of the Inca Empire. The symbol of Inti is depicted on the flag of Argentina, Coat of arms of Ecuador, Flag of Uruguay, and the historical Flag of Peru. The Sun has clear importance to the Incan civilization, which can even be seen in the architecture of the empire. The Ushnus, were buildings where the leading soldiers would pledge to be loyal to the leadership of the Incan leadership, and these buildings have a deep connection to the sun. Evidence of sun god symbolism pre-Incan conquest can be found depicted on the Gate of the Sun constructed by the Tiwanaku culture.

Llamas
Llamas were important to the economy of the vast Incan Empire, they could be used for wool, transportation of goods, and food. They also played a major role in the religious lives of the Inca, being a valuable sacrifice to the Gods and used in important religious ceremonies as offerings. Urcuchillay was a god worshipped by the Inca, in particular llama herders, Urcuchillay was believed to protect and watch over the llamas of the land. Llama artwork created by the Inca shows further reverence towards llamas, an example of this is a depiction of a llama constructed out of pure gold, an extremely valuable material for the Inca because of its religious significance as it was considered the sweat of the sun, the most worshipped deity for the Inca, Inti.

Pumas
The Inca had religious reverence for the cougar, commonly known as a puma in South America. The Incas believed the puma to represent power and strength, as well as patience and wisdom. The original Inca Capital Cusco took the shape of a puma, with the massive citadel of Sacsayhuaman representing the head of the puma. The site of Qenko north of Cusco contains monoliths and astronomically aligned structures, which on certain days create light and shadow effects. At the June solstice sunrise, light passes through a carefully designed fissure aligned to illuminate first one of the gnomons and then the other, with both casting shadows that create an image. The result is known as “the awakening of the puma” The puma is also associated with wealth and prosperity. The Huarochiri Manuscript mentions how it was a practice of the Inca to wear puma skins to display their wealth.

Condors
For the Inca, the condor was believed to connect the earthly world of man, Kay Pacha, with the upper world and the gods, Hanan Pacha. Believed to be the messengers of heaven to men, and the Inca to their patron deity, Inti. Today, the people of the Andes still hold the condor as sacred. In some towns, the Andean ritual of the "Yawar Fiesta", or Blood Festival, is still being celebrated, in this festival condors fight bulls, with the condor representing the Inca, while the bull represents the Spaniards.

Pre-Inca Andean beliefs
One of the most important figures in Pre-Inca Andean beliefs is the creator deity Viracocha, who even during Inca times was one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon and seen as the creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created, and intimately associated with the sea. In pre-Incan Andean iconography Viracocha takes the form of a Staff God, characterized by front-facing figures holding vertical objects which are referred two as "staffs". As the chief deity, Viracocha was the creator god and served as the primary religious icon of the entire Peruvian Andes, particularly during the Early Horizon (900-200 BC) onwards.