 Ancient Inscriptions reveal that the Babylonians celebrated an annual Rathayatra Cart Festival over 2,500 years ago. In fact this festival is regarded as one of the earliest recorded such celebrations known to history.
During this 11 day festival "the statues were cleaned and received new dresses. On the next day, the festival reached its climax when all statues were brought out from their rooms and shown to the Babylonian populace. The gods started a tour through the city to the river. Here, they boarded a small fleet, that brought them to the house of the New year. The king himself guided the Supreme God Marduk, (who rests upon a winged serpent Garuda-Ananta). On the last part of the route, the ships were placed on chariots, so that the gods were driven to the house of the New year. This festival was called Akitu by the ancient Babylonians and continued for centuries not only in Babylon but in Palmyra and the temple of Baal was inaugurated on the same date as Akitu. At the beginning of the third century AD , it was still celebRated in Emessa in Syria, to honor the god Elagabal; the Roman emperor Heliogabalus (218-222) even introduced the festival in Italy."
Research shows that today a very similar festival is celebrated annually in Jagannath Puri, Odisha in Eastern India. It is the annual Jagannath Rathayatra Festival in which hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate and honor Lord Jagannath, Subhadra and Baladeva.
This evidence is yet another reminder that it is Hindu India's living ancient culture and traditions that allow us an accurate window into the past. To Know Vedic India is to Know the Ancient World in all its mystery and wonder.
It is also interesting to note that Krishna's city of Dwaraka and Babylon both have the same meaning. Dwarka means "gateway to the Supreme" or "city of gates," and Babylon was called Babilli in early 2nd millennium BC, meaning "Gate of God" or "Gateway of the God."
Unlike Babylon, Egypt, Peru, Greece or Mexico India's ancient civilization continues to this very day. As noted in this documentary India is indeed the last place where one can still experience the festivals and the rhythm of the ancient world.
Detailing the Connections between ancient Babylon and Jagannath Puri, Odisha, India
Start at 0:35 till 4:00 English Transcript Below
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Professor Walter Sommerfeld to the University of Marburg, Germany speculated how the people who lived in this metropolis celebrated their Cart festivals. "You have to imagine the festival with an extremely impressive statue of a God in a central position. It was huge and brightly colored with many decorations. The king was there along with the high priests. There was singing by the light of the flaming torches. Something of a similar kind of religious sentiment is still found today in India. We cannot take part in Babylonian festivals like this any more but at least there are a great many parallels in India that enable us to capture something of the atmosphere of that time." The great processional way in Babylon may have resembled this. (Footage of Puri, Orissa's Rathayatra Festival) There are considerable parallels between the religious festival celebrated each year by the people of Puri in Eastern India and Nebuchadnezzar's Great New Year festival. This ancient religious tradition perhaps spread from Babylon to India or the other way around. The comparison of the celebrations in India with accounts written on ancient clay tablets is certainly striking. Just as in the New Year Festival of ancient Babylon the ancient statues at the Gods are brought out of the temple in Puri draped with ceremonial decorations and placed on a sacred cart. The King the Puri has been likened to a reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar as in Nebuchadnezzar day the King has to follow the customs closely as their the rules at the Gods. Just as Nebuchadnezzar once did he has to clean the cart in a ritual gesture. This religious ceremony serves to legitimize his rule and to renew the bond between King, God and the people. The entire population is caught up in the euphoric ritual. Finally everyone comes together to pull the statue of the Gods through the streets pulling it along with its massive ropes. Religion here is not an abstract concept but it is something that is lived and reveered everday. The hectic bustle of the carnival route in Puri is a modern reflection of the ancient rituals 2,500 years ago in Babylon." |
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