Gods

• Illapa, the thunder god, controlled the weather.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The Inca worshipped many gods, each of which had a particular area of influence. The most powerful of these was Viracocha, whom the Inca believed to be their creator. Viracocha was also the creator of the other gods. The Inca also worshipped Inti, the sun god, since the sun was believed to encourage the growth of agricultural crops, and Mama Quilla, the moon goddess, as the cycle of the moon was the basis of the Inca calendar. Other gods were Illapa, the thunder god, and Mama Cocha, the goddess of the sea.
  
  

Spirits

• The Inca valued many aspects of nature as sacred places.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Inca worship was not limited to gods, but also included other entities. The Inca believed that huacas, or spirits, resided within places or objects. These included springs, rocks and caves, providing earthly places of worship. Similar to the gods, each huaca had certain powers, which were specific to the location of the huaca. For example, a huaca within a spring was responsible for the spring's flow.
  
  

Sacrifices

• The Inca sometimes sacrificed children as part of a ritual.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The Inca conducted many rituals as part of their beliefs, and sometimes rituals were accompanied by a sacrifice. As an offering and a form of worship to the gods, the Inca would usually sacrifice guinea pigs and llamas. Rituals were usually led by a priest who would cut the throat of the animal to be sacrificed. Food and drink would frequently be offered up as well, with the food being burned, and the drink being poured on the ground.
  
  

Afterlife

• A place of burial often became a huaca.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The Inca religion also had a concept of the afterlife. The Inca believed that after death those who had been good on earth went to live with the sun and enjoyed perpetual food and drink. Those who had been bad lived beneath the earth in the cold with no food. Funerals in the Inca empire required an elaborate ritual, and the body of the deceased was usually buried, unless the individual had high status. These individuals, including emperors, were mummified.