Illapa (also known as: Apu Illapa, Ilyapa, Chuquiylla, Catuilla, Intillapa or Libiac)[1] is the god of lightning, thunder, lightning, rain and war in Inca mythology. The lightning was generally revered as a deity of supreme hierarchy within the entire Andean area; therefore, it received different names: Yana Raman or Libiac, of the Yaros or Llacuaces; Pariacaca, of the Yauyos; Apocatequil, of the Cajamarca; Tumayricapac, of the Yaros of Chinchaycocha; Pusikaqcha, of the southern highlands; among others.[2] During the expansion of the Tahuantinsuyo, these divinities would become regional variants of the god Illapa.[3]
Illapa was strongly linked to agriculture, since the ideal climate for fruitful harvests and crops depended on it.
As the god of war, Illapa also played a primordial role in war contexts. Illapa was the main protective numen of the Inca military campaigns during the expansion of the Tawantinsuyu.[4]
Due to his powers as god of weather and god of war, Illapa was venerated to such an extent that he was considered the third most important god in the Inca pantheon. He was only surpassed by Huiracocha and Inti.
- ^ "Illapa". Pueblosoriginarios.com. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Luis Rodolfo Monteverde Sotil. "La configuración arquitectónica de los ushnus como espacios de libaciones y ofrendas líquidas durante el Tahuantinsuyo". Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ Ariadna Baulenas I Pubill. "La evolución de la divinidad Illapa en el Tahuantinsuyu: poder y conflicto entre la élite cusqueña". Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ Marco Curatola Petrocchi y Jan Szeminski. "El Inca y la Huaca" (PDF). Retrieved 30 April 2023.