Every year the images of conquered provincial
huacas were summoned to Cuzco to foretell the
future. Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe. El primer
nueva corónica y buen gobierno. Edited by John
V. Murra and Rolena Adorno, 235/261. Mexico
City: Siglo Veintiuno, 1980 [1615].In fact, Inca rulers did not make any decisions without first consulting the Sun
god in the Coricancha. For the most important state matters, the ruler usually
dealt directly with the sacred image of the Sun, Punchao (the day, or young
Sun), a small, seated anthropomorphic figure of gold, whose hollow interior
contained the ashes of the hearts of former Inca rulers. According to the
chronicler Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, the Inca knelt in the middle of the
temple and queried the Sun idol, who unfailingly answered him. The only other
person who could communicate with the Sun god was the Willac Umu (the