Essay On Religion In Peru

Religion in Peru
In 1532, the Spanish arrived in the Andes and began their campaign of conversion and colonization. Because of widespread Spanish rule over the following centuries, about 90 percent of the modern Peruvian population identifies as Catholic. But Catholicism in Peru is distinct from Catholicism anywhere else, blending with much older indigenous practices and holidays.
Throughout Peruvian cities and villages, you can stop and admire the cathedrals that the Spanish built, which are close by (and sometimes directly on top of) the ruins of Inca and older indigenous civilizations. For example, Qurikancha, the Incan Temple of the Sun in Cusco, originally shone with an a layer of gold, removed by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Nearly 100 years later, the Spanish completed construction of the Church of Santo Domingo on the

Gods and goddesses typically took the form of anthropomorphized snakes, birds, the sun and the moon, and mother Earth. What we know of the Inca pantheon of gods and goddesses comes from archaeology of temples and shrines, and some records preserved by Spanish priests after the conquest. Just as Peruvians now celebrate a version of Catholicism mixed with native beliefs and practices, the Incan religion absorbed some of the central tenets of the cultures the Inca people had conquered.
Like many Andean religions, Inca considered the sun god the most prominent. Called Inti, the Inca rulers considered him their direct ancestor. His wife is Mama Quilla, the goddess of the moon, whose cycles dictated the Inca calendar. Viracocha, another major deity, is depicted as an old man. Inca worshipped him as the creator of all living things, although he is not supposed to have played a major role in daily life. Temples and shrines to these deities still stand, and have become popular tourist