Posts tagged "inti raymi"

Inti Raymi: Cultural Preservation or Capitalistic Exploitation? [Featured]

Inti Raymi: Cultural Preservation or Capitalistic Exploitation? [Featured]

With tickets sold to tourists priced at $80 each, indigenous Cusqueños are effectively barred from the modern-day recreations of their ancestors’ most important religious event, Inti Raymi. Is there anything left in this “ritual” that reflects the Inca empire’s glorious past, or is it all a show put on to make money from tourists? Camden Luxford explains.

July 31, 2010 | Commentary/Opinion, Traditions

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Inti Raymi

Inti Raymi

The Spanish had yet to arrive in Peru but there was such frantic activity throughout the empire in the week leading up to the 24th of June that it was obvious that something just as big was happening. In fact it happened every year and was very important – but thankfully well-rehearsed Inca rituals meant there was no real cause for alarm.

June 24, 2008 | Cusco Guide, Modern Peru

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Inca Stone Masonry

Inca Stone Masonry

The quality of the Incas stone work is what many people notice when visiting their ruins, or even just walking through the streets of Cusco. But how did they manage to carve so accurately, to a degree we can only just achieve today with sophisticated technology such as lasers? How could they cut the stone bricks and place them so tightly together that you couldn’t slide a sheet of paper between them – that not even air can blow through?
From the works of Hiram Bingham to many recent studies, several hypothesis have been put forward. But could the answer be not so different from our modern lasers?

November 12, 2006 | Cusco Guide, Modern Peru

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