Inti is the ancient Incasun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since the Inca divided his identity according to the stages of the sun.[1] Worshiped as a patron deity of the Inca Empire,[2]Pachacuti is often linked to the origin and expansion of the Inca Sun Cult.[3][4] The most common belief was that Inti was born of Viracocha, who had many titles, chief among them being the God of Creation.[5]
The word inti is not of Quechua origin but a loanword from Puquina.[6] Borrowing from Puquina explains why historically unrelated languages such as Quechua, Aymara and Mapuche have similar words for the Sun.[6][7] Similitudes are not only linguistic but also symbolically as in Mapuche and Central Andean cosmology the Sun (Inti/Antu) and the Moon (Quilla/Cuyen) are spouses.[8]