The Temples and Intihuatana Stone of Machu Picchu
The religious and ceremonial precinct of Machu Picchu is concentrated in the Hanan (upper) sector of the site, on a series of terraces above the central plaza. The principal buildings of the precinct are the Intihuatana stone, the Temple of the Sun, the Room of the Three Windows, the Principal Temple, the Unfinished Temple, the Temple of the Condor, and a series of smaller shrines and ceremonial structures. The buildings are constructed in the imperial style of closely fitted polygonal granite blocks, with trapezoidal doorways and niches, and they are aligned to the surrounding peaks and to the astronomical events that marked the Inca ritual calendar. The site is one of the most thoroughly studied examples of Inca ceremonial architecture, and the principal buildings have been the subject of detailed architectural and astronomical surveys.
The Intihuatana stone
The Intihuatana (Inty Watana, “the place where the sun is tied”) is a carved granite outcrop that stands on a small pyramidal platform in the upper Hanan sector, near the principal religious buildings. The outcrop is irregular in shape, approximately 1 meter high, and has been cut into a complex form with a flat upper surface, four small steps on the north side, and a series of carved features on the upper surface. The Intihuatana is interpreted as an astronomic observation point and as a ritual focus of the cult of the sun.
The astronomical function of the Intihuatana has been the subject of detailed study. The German-American archaeologist Rolf Müller, working in the 1960s and 1970s, demonstrated that the carved features on the upper surface of the stone align with the position of the rising and setting sun at the June and December solstices and at the equinoxes. The shadow cast by the stone at sunrise on 21 June, the southern winter solstice (the principal Inca solstice), falls on a particular point of the carved surface, and the same is true for the southern summer solstice in December. The alignments are consistent with those documented at other Inca ceremonial sites, including the Coricancha in Cusco and the Ollantaytambo Sun Temple, and they support the interpretation of the Intihuatana as an instrument of solar observation.
The Intihuatana is also the focus of ritual activity. The chronicler Bernabé Cobo recorded that such stones were used in the imperial cult to mark the movements of the sun and to perform offerings, and that the stones were dressed with gold and silver at the principal festivals. The surviving stone at Machu Picchu shows signs of ritual burning on the upper surface, consistent with the offering of llamas, aqha (maize beer), and other materials, and with the small fires that were lit at the solstices.
The Temple of the Sun
The Temple of the Sun is a curved polygonal structure built atop a large natural boulder in the upper Hanan sector of the site. The building has a semi-circular plan, approximately 11 meters in diameter, with walls of polygonal granite blocks fitted to the surface of the underlying rock. The temple is divided into two chambers, a larger eastern chamber and a smaller western chamber, each entered through a trapezoidal doorway. A carved stone, often called the altar, occupies a niche in the eastern wall, and the temple is one of the most finely constructed buildings at Machu Picchu.
The curved polygonal wall of the Temple of the Sun is technically the most complex in the site, and it is the most carefully constructed example of curved polygonal masonry outside the Coricancha. The wall has been the subject of photogrammetric and architectural studies, and the techniques used are similar to those documented at the Coricancha and at the Sun Temple of Ollantaytambo. The wall has a series of small niches and a trapezoidal window that frames a view of the rising sun at the June solstice.
The function of the temple is interpreted as a focus of the cult of the sun and as a private ritual space for the Sapa Inca. The temple is the most elaborately decorated building in the site, and the position of the sun at the solstices is marked by the alignment of the window with the surrounding peaks. The temple also contains a series of cave-like chambers beneath the floor, which are interpreted as tombs or as the focus of rituals associated with the underworld.
The Room of the Three Windows
The Room of the Three Windows is a long hall in the upper Hanan sector, with three large trapezoidal windows in the eastern wall. The room is approximately 10.7 meters long and 5.2 meters wide, and the three windows are aligned with views to the surrounding mountains: the left window with the peak of Huayna Picchu, the central window with a point on the eastern horizon, and the right window with a peak to the north. The walls are built in the imperial polygonal style, and the three windows are the defining feature of the building.
The three windows are interpreted as a cosmological diagram. The number three, and the alignment of the windows with the surrounding peaks, is consistent with the Inca division of the world into three realms: the upper world of the celestial beings, the middle world of the living, and the underworld. The windows are sometimes interpreted as the eyes of the puma, the celestial animal, and the building as a whole is read as a representation of the cosmos.
The Room of the Three Windows is also notable for the large stones of which the three window walls are built. The wall contains several of the largest polygonal blocks in the site, including the famous ten-sided stone in the southern wall of the room. The stones are fitted with the same close joints as the rest of the imperial masonry, and the building is one of the most carefully constructed in the Hanan sector.