Bochica
Mythological figure of the Muisca (Chibcha) culture
title: "Bochica" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["muisca-gods", "pre-columbian-mythology-and-religion", "primordial-teachers", "flood-myths"] description: "Mythological figure of the Muisca (Chibcha) culture" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bochica" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mythological figure of the Muisca (Chibcha) culture ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox deity"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| type | Muisca |
| name | Bochica |
| deity_of | Education, messenger god |
| member_of | Muisca religion |
| image | Bochica.jpg |
| caption | Monument to Bochica in Cuítiva |
| other_names | Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba, Sadigua |
| affiliation | Chiminigagua |
| Greek_equivalent | Hermes |
| Roman_equivalent | Mercury |
| Etruscan_equivalent | Turms |
| Hinduism_equivalent | Narada |
| equivalent1_type | Buddhism |
| equivalent1 | Buddha |
| equivalent2_type | Egyptian |
| equivalent2 | Thoth |
| equivalent3_type | Celtic |
| equivalent3 | Lugus |
| region | Altiplano Cundiboyacense |
| ethnic_group | Muisca |
| :: |
| type = Muisca | name = Bochica | deity_of = Education, messenger god | member_of = Muisca religion | image = Bochica.jpg | alt = | caption = Monument to Bochica in Cuítiva | other_names = Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba, Sadigua | hiro = | script_name = | script = | affiliation = Chiminigagua | cult_center = | abode = | planet = | mantra = | weapon = | battles = | artifacts = | animals = | symbol = | day = | color = | number = | consort = | parents = | siblings = | offspring = | army = | mount = | texts = | Greek_equivalent = Hermes | Roman_equivalent = Mercury | Etruscan_equivalent = Turms | Christian_equivalent = | Slavic_equivalent = | Hinduism_equivalent = Narada | equivalent1_type = Buddhism | equivalent1 = Buddha | equivalent2_type = Egyptian | equivalent2 = Thoth | equivalent3_type = Celtic | equivalent3 = Lugus | region = Altiplano Cundiboyacense | ethnic_group = Muisca | festivals = Bochica (also alluded to as Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba and Sadigua) is a mythical figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense before the Spanish invasion by conquistadors in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia. There is little documentation concerning Bochica, who was mentioned by name in records from 1563 from Ubaque. "Bochica was variously described by witnesses as a building which [Melchor] Pérez de Arteaga had destroyed - as the father of a 'tiger' - perhaps a puma or jaguar that had recently been attacking travellers of local roads, and as an 'idol'. When asked who Bochica was, Ubaque replied that 'he is a wind' - (un viento) - and that he was in the site of the building that the Spanish had destroyed." In the 1688 work, Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reyno de Granada, by Spanish bishop Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita, Bochica had "become a civilising hero, descending to earth to found the Muisca religion". ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Mulder-nueva_granada.jpg" caption="[[Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita]], ''Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reyno de Granada'', 1688"] ::
Bochica appeared in Pasca in Cundinamarca and later in Gámeza, Boyacá where the people showed him hospitability. He retreated in the Toya cave where many caciques visited him for wisdom. Caciques from Tópaga, Tota, Pesca, Firavitoba and others consulted Bochica. After the supreme being of the Muisca, Chiminigagua sent them to Sugamuxi the city became a sacred place where the Temple of the Sun would be erected and religious festivities organised around the arrival of Bochica.
References
Bibliography
- Cobo Betancourt, Juan F. (2024). The Coming of the Kingdom: The Muisca, Catholic Reform, and Spanish Colonialism in the New Kingdom of Granada. Open access. Cambridge University Press.
- Simón, Pedro. Noticias historiales de las conquistas de tierra firme en las Indias occidentales. Bogotá: Casa editorial de Medardo Rivas 1892.
References
- Goyes Narváez, Julio César. (2016). "Exceso de agua y falta de sol: la diosa Bachué de Rómulo Rozo". Trama y fondo: Revista de cultura.
- Cobo Betancourt, Juan F. (2024). ''[[doi:10.1017/9781009314046. The Coming of the Kingdom: The Muisca, Catholic Reform, and Spanish Colonialism in the New Kingdom of Granada]]''. Open access. Cambridge University Press 2024, p. 54, citing documentation in the Spanish archives.
- Cobo Betancourt, ''The Coming of the Kingdom'', citing Piedrahita, p. 19
- Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.5, p.37
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