Mama Quilla- Inca GodDeity"Mother Moon"

Birth at the Sacred Lake

Viracocha summoned the sun from Lake Titicaca and commanded it to rise. Then he created the moon and the stars to govern the night. The Isla de la Luna on Lake Titicaca was dedicated to Mama Quilla, paired with the Isla del Sol across the water where Inti had his sanctuary.

Priestesses called the Iñaca tended a temple complex on the Isla de la Luna, maintaining offerings in Mama Quilla's honor. Pilgrims who crossed to Inti's island also crossed to hers, completing the paired devotion the celestial couple demanded.

The Silver Chamber

Within the Coricancha in Cusco, Mama Quilla had her own chamber adjacent to Inti's golden shrine. Where his sanctuary blazed with gold, "the sweat of the sun," hers gleamed with silver, "the tears of the moon." A great silver disk bearing a woman's face represented the goddess. The mummified bodies of deceased Coyas rested in her precinct, just as dead Sapa Incas rested in Inti's, and they continued to receive offerings through their attendants.

The chronicler Bernabé Cobo recorded that Mama Quilla "was held in great veneration among women, especially by the Coyas and other women of royal blood." The Coya wore silver ornaments as Mama Quilla's earthly counterpart, mirroring the Sapa Inca in his gold.

Coya Raymi

The September festival of Coya Raymi, the "Festival of the Queen," was Mama Quilla's principal celebration. At nightfall, the people of Cusco emerged into the streets carrying torches. They shouted and chanted as they drove illness and evil spirits from the city, running through the streets toward the rivers, plunging their torches and themselves into the water to wash away contamination.

The Coya herself presided over the ceremonies. Women led the rituals. The Chosen Women, acllas dedicated to religious service, wove textiles and brewed ceremonial chicha for Mama Quilla's shrines across the empire.

Lunar Eclipses

Lunar eclipses meant a serpent or puma was trying to devour Mama Quilla. If it succeeded, eternal darkness would descend.

The response was immediate. Throughout the empire, people poured into the streets. Drums thundered. Conch-shell trumpets blew. Dogs howled, struck to add their voices. Warriors shook weapons at the sky and hurled threats at the unseen creature. Women cried out to their protector. Children wept. Cristóbal de Molina described the entire population of Cusco united in a single desperate effort to save the moon.

When the eclipse ended and silver light returned, offerings followed. Coca and chicha were poured toward the sky.