All the classes of members of the sultan’s household, all the high officers of government, and all the separate bodies of troops in the standing army were clearly distinguished from each other by costume or head-dress or by both. Each group and every officer in each group had his exact place in every ceremonial assembly and his exact rank in every procession. Each great official, beginning with the sultan, had his title for use in public documents, a designation which, though not exactly fixed, varied little from time to time.[481] Ceremonial occasions were numerous and splendid. All were participated in by representatives from each division of the Ruling Institution, and on the greatest occasions practically its whole membership was present. The ceremonies may be grouped as simple occasions, religious festivals, and extraordinary ceremonies. Among the simpler ceremonial occasions were the regular meetings of the Divan, which in time of peace took place four times a week, on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. On Fridays the sultan rode forth to mosque in magnificent state.[482] On other days some of the officials made visits of state to their superiors. Every three months the Janissaries were paid with much ceremony in the parade-ground between the first and second gates of the palace. For the sake of giving an impression of wealth and magnificence, such occasions were frequently chosen for the reception of ambassadors.[483] The great religious festivals of Islam, in which all the Moslems of the empire participated, were celebrated by the court with great pomp. These were the two feasts of Bairam, one of which comes at the close of the fast of the month of Ramazan, and the other and greater seventy days later.[484] On the great day of Bairam the ceremony of kissing the hand of the sultan was performed by all the officials of the household and government. The principal extraordinary ceremonies were those in celebration of the birth of sons or daughters to the sultan, of the circumcision of princes and the marriage of princesses, the accession to the throne, and the going forth of the sultan to war. The greatest of all Suleiman’s celebrations was probably that of the circumcision of his sons, Mustapha, Mohammed, and Selim, in 1530. Twenty-one successive days of display, feasting, games, and formal presentation of gifts contributed to the unparalleled grandeur of the occasion.[485]