India, Oct. 17 -- The oldest recorded festival was celebrated in Ancient Mesopotamia, on the fourth day of the month of Nisan, the first month of the Babylonian year, around 3000 BCE.

Called Akitu, it lasted 12 days and, at its core, was a celebration of the planting of a new crop of barley, and a renewal of the contract between the king and the gods of ancient Babylon, most notably Marduk.

There were days of mourning and days of feasting. Ceremonial puppets were made and burnt. Statues of the gods were taken to the innermost sanctum of the temple on the sixth day, and taken out and paraded along the main streets on the ninth.

The high priest stripped the king of his crown and sceptre, and led him to the sanctum of Marduk. There, in fr...