Chaquén

Chaquén
Sports, fertility
Member of Muisca religion
Turmequé, cacique patron of tejo national sport of Colombia, already played in Muisca times
Greek equivalent	Demeter
Roman equivalent	~Mars
Region	Altiplano Cundiboyacense  Colombia
Ethnic group	Muisca
Festivals	Sowing and harvest

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 fighters for wars, mainly fought between the zipazgo and the zacazgo but also against other indigenous peoples as the Panches, Muzos and others. When the Spanish arrived in the highlands of central Colombia, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, they encountered resistance of the guecha warriors, trained by Chaquén.

Chaquén flew over the boundaries of the sowing fields of the rich agriculture of the Muisca. During the contests and festivities of the Muisca people Chaquén manifestated himself. 17th century chronicler Pedro Simón said about Chaquén: "The Muisca organized races on their holidays where the vassals of the caciques would compete in many aspects; dances with new inventions and a lot of feathers, flutes, horns and drums. The people would have interludes with delights, wearing uniforms and many of them wore animal skins with diadems of fine gold. As prizes for the winners there were richly decorated mantles and the festivities were celebrated with a lot of chicha.