Inca religious ceremonies followed the Inca calendar. The seasons of the year were very important to the Inca, because they lived off the land. Their calendar was divided into twelve lunar months, named for important agricultural and religious events. The calendar year began with December. Every month they had one more festivals. Inca festivals were held outside. Games, songs, dancing, food, parades, and sacrifice (of animals usually) were all part of the festivities. If something special was happening, like the crowning of a new emperor or a drought, the Incas would include human sacrifice as part of the festival.

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​December or Kapac Raymi               was the month of Magnificent Festival. During this month the Inca held initiation ceremonies for the sons of the nobility.

January or Kamay                             was the month of Small Ripening.

​February or Hatun Poky                   was the moth of the Great Ripening.

March or Pakar Waray                      was the month of the flowers and Earth Ripening.

​April, Auriwa                                     the month of the Dance of Young Maize, a white Llama, brushed and groomed and covered with fine cloths and gold  ornaments, was  paraded in the plaza before a large gathering.

In May, Aymuray                              festivals were held all over the Empire to celebrate the month of the Harvest.
June, Inti Raymi                               was the month of festival of the Sun - the most important Inca ceremony. The people believed that the Sun was holding the celebration and that the nobility were his guests at the festival. The emperor was carried on a golden thrown into the Temple of the Sun, which was filled with sculptures of golden llamas and cornstalks.  White llamas were sacrificed to the sun.
July, Chawa Warkis                         was the month of earth purification. During this month priests make sacrifices to the huaca which presided over the irrigation system of the Cusco valley, and similar festivals were held to honor the huacas at the irrigation canals held the huacas at the irrigation canals all over the Empire.
August orYapakis                            was the month of everyone's Purification. Sacrifices brought to Cusco from the four provinces of the Empire, honored Water, Frost, the Air, and the Sun.
September or Koya Raymi,             was a dry month, and the Queen's Festival honored the change in weather.
In October or Uma Raymi               the Inca held the Festival of Water. The people prayed for the rain, because the crops that had been sown in August and September would fail without it.
In November or Ayamarka Raymi     there was the Festival of the Dead. During this festival people made offerings to their dead ancestors. It is possible that this worship of ancestors was based on a fear of the dead. The Inca may have believed that unless they treated the shades of the dead with respect, the shades might molest the living.​
 

In additions to these monthly ceremonies there were many others, which were held on special occasions, such as drought, an earthquake, or a war.

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Below is a video of an Inca festival, the festival of the sun.

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