Museo del oro, Bogotá, Colombia - Muisca Votive Figure

Chiminigagua, Chiminichagua or Chimichagua was the supreme being,

omnipotent Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one ...

god and creator of the world in the religion of the Muisca.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.1, p.15 The Muisca and their

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...

were one of the four advanced civilizations of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

and developed their own religion on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Description

Chiminigagua was a universally good god and represented the only light that existed when it was night time. When the world was created there was only darkness and the only light was given by Chiminigagua. When Chiminigagua decided to shine light across the

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the univers ...

, he first opened his gigantic belly from where light was shining. He then created two large black birds and launched them into

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

. The birds spread light from their beaks which produced light in the cosmos. Thus he created light and everything in the world. Chiminigagua showed the importance of his important gods Chía (the Moon), Sué (the Sun) and Cuchavira (rainbow). Adoring the Moon and the Sun for the Muisca was praising Chiminigagua. The creation of the Sun and Moon gave rise to mother goddess

Bachué The goddess Bachué (in Chibcha language: "the one with the naked breast"), is a mother goddess that according to the Muisca religion is the mother of humanity. She emerged of the waters in the Iguaque Lake with a baby in her arms, who grew to ...

. The solar cult and belief in the supreme being is comparable to other

indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

and elsewhere in the world. Tezcatlipoca was a similar deity for the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

and Viracocha was his counterpart for the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

s. Solar cults and gods are found in other religions as well;

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the ...

, Ra and

Aton Aton, ATON or variants thereof may refer to: People * Aton Ben-Horin (born 1979), American music executive and record producer * Aton Edwards (born c. 1962), American expert in the fields of emergency preparedness, self-reliance and sustainable li ...

for the

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

Mitra ''Mitra'' ( Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity from which the names and some characteristics of Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra derive. The names (and occasionally also some characteristics) of these ...

for the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ns, Shamash for the people in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

Helios In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

for the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

and

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nah ...

and Huitzilopochtli represented the Sun for the Aztec and the

Mayas The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people ...

praised

Kinich Ahau Kinich Ahau (Kʼinich Ajaw) is the 16th-century Yucatec name of the Maya sun god, designated as God G when referring to the codices. In the Classic period, God G is depicted as a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose, large square eyes, cross-eye ...

, while the Incas believed Inti symbolised the Sun and created the Inca civilization.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.1, p.16 The most important sanctuaries established in

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Colombia were erected in Sugamuxi, present-day Sogamoso, Guatavita, Bacatá (currently Colombian capital Bogotá) and Guachetá. '' Zaque'' Goranchacha constructed a temple in Hunza, today known as Tunja, and honouring him the people placed the ''Cojines del zaque'' ("Zaque Pillows"), two circular stones made of the same rock, there. Every day before sunrise the ''zaque'' with his priests and some of the indigenous people gathered and prayed the Sun would rise in the east. This gave the astronomer class power over the peasants during eclipses. The ruler of the Muisca kneeled down on the Pillows and the people prayed, sang and danced. In some occasions there were

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

s where the hearts of twelve-year-old children were taken from their bodies and offered to the holy Sun. Sogamoso was considered a sacred city in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes and was known as the "City of the Sun", blessed by Bochica. It was here the

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

s gathered to adore Chiminigagua. When the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

es led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada reached the area of the Muisca they were searching for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and the legendary ''

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

''. Their torches burnt the sacred Sun Temple, destroying one of the most elaborated religious works of the Muisca. The Sun Temple has been reconstructed in the Archeology Museum of Sogamoso, see image. Chiminigagua has been described at the end of the 16th century by the Spanish chroniclers Pedro Simón and Juan de Castellanos. The supreme being of the Muisca was a static deity without body who ruled over all the other gods. He was however never praised directly, yet through his lesser gods of the Sun, Moon and fertility; Chía, Sué and

Chaquén Chaquén was the god of sports and fertility in the religion of the Muisca. The Muisca and their confederation were one of the four advanced civilizations of the Americas and as they were warriors, sports was very important to train the fighter ...

. Chiminigagua's messenger god was Bochica. When the Spanish arrived in Muisca territory they were described as "children of the Sun".Chiminigagua: the supreme being
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References

Bibliography

* * {{Muisca navbox, Mythology and religion, state=expanded Muisca gods Pre-Columbian mythology and religion Creator gods Muysccubun

Description

See also

References

Bibliography