Background

They say that in the colonial days, in Quillacollo, Cochabamba, a little girl would her parents by shepherding sheep. One day a beautiful dazzling lady with a baby in her arms appeared to the little shepherd. She became her friend. For the little girl, to talk with the lady, who spoke to her in her native language, keschwa, and to play with the baby became some thing natural.
On reaching her house, she would tell her parents about the beautiful lady, who, amazed would hear their daughter to tell on how “the lady” appeared.
Quite puzzled the parents of the little shepherd, they decided to share this fact with the priest of the parish church and some neighbors, who determined to assure about the certainty of the story of the little girl.
On day, on August 15, her parents and some neighbors surprisingly appeared in the place where the little girl used to shepherd her sheep. It was a great surprise when they saw the little girl was accompanied by the lady and her baby. Astonishment and disbelief caught the people, when they saw that the lady and her son would slowly start going up into heaven. The surprised people would ask:

In the place where the lady and her son in her arms would visit the little shepherd, they found a beautiful image of a lady with her son, which they called it: Virgen María de Urkupiña, (Virgin Mary of Urkupiña), Spanish name for which the Virgin is known. A temple of the Virgin was built in that place, since that epoch it is worshiped by the Bolivian people. At present, the image of the Virgin has been transferred to the Head Temple of Quillacollo, where pilgrims reach form all over Bolivia to worship Virgin Maria de Urkupiña, patroness of National Integration.

The Urkupiña festivity

The festivity of the Virgin of Urkupiña is celebrated form august 14th to 16th in Quillacollo, an important province of the department of Cochabamba. The feast in honor of the Virgin Mary of Urkupiña calls together pilgrims from all over Bolivia and the neighboring countries to visit the Sanctuary.
Hiking as far as its altar or as far as Cota Mountain, the place of its appearance, trekking over the 16 kilometers that separate Quillacollo from Cochabamba, it is one of the tokens of love, devotion and faith of the believers, toward the sacred image.
The feast of the Virgin of Urkupiña has turned out to become a traditional and folkloric that calls together youth groups of autochthonous dances, to go over a long distances by dancing as a way of worshipping the Patroness of Urkupiña.
This unique, colorful, musical, full of dances, beauty and faith are worth of admiration. Thousands of dancers wearing elaborate and eye-catching costumes dance at the rhythm of folkloric music, delighting watchers with varied and beautiful choreography.
During the festivity, the pilgrims also visit Cota Mountain, a place called Calvario (Calvary) now, where people take out stones with the belief that according to the size of the stone extracted, the Virgin will reward them money accordingly. There are also miniature items, tiny houses, very little cars, trucks and many others items which represent testimonies of the same, the miraculous Virgin grants. The religious festivity of Virgin of Urkupiña, patroness of the National Integration, is undoubtedly one of the most important religious and folkloric feasts of the country.

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