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Established 1961 31 Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Lifestyle Feature Turkey’s dervishes whirl for Rumi anniversary ‘A lot of people like his poetry because it comes from the heart, from his soul’ Whirling dervishes perform a “Sema” ritual during a ceremony. rms crossed over their hearts, hands rest- fit and their tall cap-one hand pointed towards ing on their shoulders, the dervishes start the sky and another towards the earth-has Atheir dance. They turn on themselves, become one of the most famous symbols of slowly sliding their hands along their bodies Turkey. The audience watched entranced at a before raising them, embracing the universe. But dance which copies the movement of planets far from being only an act of introvert worship, against a background of Sufi music that filled the dance of the whirling dervishes is now a the large Konya Sports and Congress Centre. huge spectacle in Turkey, attracting flocks of “A lot of people like his poetry because it tourists every year. Every December, the comes from the heart, from his soul. And in his Turkish city of Konya organizes 10 days of cele- soul, he was with Allah,” said Andrey Zhuravlyov brations to commemorate the death on who came from Latvia for the third time. At December 17, 1273, of Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Rumi’s mausoleum-recognizable by its Rumi, the Sufi mystic who is one of the world’s turquoise-tiled dome-tourists jostle each other, most beloved poets. reflect deeply and some weep profusely at the It was Rumi’s followers who founded the tomb of the poet. “Each time I visit, I feel differ- brotherhood of whirling dervishes, so-called for ent emotions,” said Alper Ali Atik, adding the the trance-like dance which is a central part of first time he visited, he left with a better under- their worship. The Mevlana museum (“our mas- standing of human beings and how to be close ter”, a title given to Rumi) in Konya-which hous- to others. es his tomb-was the most visited museum in Turkey with 2.43 million visitors, well ahead of ‘Different feeling’ Topkapi museum (1.46 million) and the Hagia Rumi was born in 1207 in the town of Balkh in Sofia (1.43 million), both in Istanbul. the northwest of modern day Afghanistan. He Abdussettar Yarar, director of Konya wrote mainly in Persian, but also in other lan- Culture and Tourism, hopes to do even better guages including in Arabic, and died in Konya. A picture in Konya, central Turkey shows the Mevlana Museum (left), the mausoleum of Mevlana this year. During the celebrations between This has left Afghans, Iranians and Turks over the Jalaluddin Rumi, the father of Sufism who lived in the 13th century. December 7 and 17, between 60-65,000 peo- years claiming him as theirs, although some pre- ple came to watch the “Sema” (the dervishes’ fer to stress he left a legacy for all humanity. dance), around 10,000 more than last year, he Around 10 percent of tourists visiting Konya for said. But the figures do not include the visitors the celebrations in December are foreigners, to the museum and other events conferences, above all, Iranians, Yarar said. This is the case for plays, exhibitions-organized in the city. These Maryam, an Iranian who previously visited figures increase each year, Yarar said, thanks to Istanbul and the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, promotional efforts by Turkish cultural and but finds in Konya, “there is a different feeling”. tourist authorities at fairs and exhibitions Her compatriot Shams added that she really around the world. loves the Mevlana. “He is a great Iranian poet,” she said, with a big smile. “When we say Konya, ‘Comes from the heart’ we think of Mevlana and when we say Mevlana, After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire Konya comes to mind,” Yarar said. Murat and the establishment of the secular Turkish Cengiz, a tourist guide for almost 20 years, has Republic, the fraternities were officially banned seen growing interest in this Sufi mystic, whom in Turkey in 1925. This led to the closure of the he believes impacts more than just Muslims and “tekke” (dervish lodges) around the country. But Turks. It is an opportunity, he said, “for the pro- many were later reopened as museums, as was tection of the heritage and the development of the case in Konya. The authorities also allowed Konya”. In front of the museum’s shadirvan the whirling dervish ceremonies to resume in (ablution fountain), Chinese tourists take a pho- the 1950s, recognizing their cultural value and to. “It’s very beautiful, a feeling that I cannot potential in terms of tourism. The silhouette of describe,” enthuses Sally, who is on holiday the whirling dervishes with their long white out- from Beijing. — AFP Whirling dervishes perform a “Sema” ritual during a ceremony. People visit Mevlana Museum, the mausoleum of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the father In Konya, central Turkey shows an inside view of the Mevlana Museum, the mausoleum of Sufism who lived in the 13th century. of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the father of Sufism who lived in the 13th century..

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