Religious festival
[4] On calendars of the Republic and early Empire, the religious statusdays were marked by letters such as F (for fastus), and N (for nefastus, when political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited).
[7] During the Imperial period, several traditional festivals localized at Rome became less important, and the birthdays and anniversaries of the emperor and his family gained prominence as Roman holidays.
After the mid-1st century AD, there were more frequent spectacles and games (circenses) held in the venue called a "circus", in honor of various deities or for imperial anniversaries (dies Augusti).
[8] A major source for Roman holidays is Ovid's Fasti, a poem that describes and provides origins for festivals from January to June at the time of Augustus.
Probably the best-known Roman festival, some of its customs, such as gift-giving and the prevalence of candles, are thought to have influenced popular celebrations of Christmas.
Even for Easter, however, there is no agreement among the various Christian traditions regarding the date or manner of the observance, less for Christmas, Pentecost, or various other holidays.
[16] A festival may be observed with acts of worship, offerings to deities, fasting, feasting, vigil, rituals, fairs, charity, celebrations, Puja, Homa, aarti etc.
[citation needed] Among major festivals are Diwali, Gudi Padwa, Pongal, Holi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Raksha Bhandan, Krishna Janmashtami, Dasara or Dussehra, which may refer to the ten days of Sharada Navratri or the tenth day, Vijayadashami.
Others include Onam, Shivaratri, Ugadi, Rathayatra of Jagannath at Puri in Ilam, Nepal and many other places in Nepal and many other countries[citation needed] Among major Islamic religious festivals are Eid ul-Adha, Eid ul-Fitr and Ramadan.
[19] Natale di Roma, historically known as Dies Romana and also referred to as Romaia, the festival linked to the foundation of Rome, celebrated on April 21.
From this date, the Roman chronology derived its system, known by the Latin phrase Ab Urbe condita, meaning "from the founding of the City", which counted the years from this presumed foundation.
