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I spent July 10-22, 2000 in Turkey through Morocco's "Tantalizing Turkey" tour. This article is part of a series of photo galleries showing the things I saw. The largest festival in Turkey is the annual Mevlâna Festival, which is held in Konya, Turkey in mid-December. It culminates on December 17th, the anniversary of Rumi's "wedding night with Allah" (his death). The festival features numerous performances of the semâ (whirling ceremony). |
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Whirling is one of the tools used by Sufis (Islamic mystics) to come closer to Allah, but it's not the only one. Different orders of Sufis apply different practices, including whirling, zikr, and others. The vast majority of whirling dervishes in Turkey trace their spiritual roots to Celaleddin Mevlâna Rumi, who founded the Mevlevi Sufi order in the 13th century. "Mevlâna" means "guide", or "master". "Rumi" means "from the Sultanate of Rum". The son of a noted Islamic preacher, Rumi came to live in the city of Konya in 1240, when he was 33 years old. Four years later, he met Mehmet Shemseddin Tebrizi, one of his father's Sufi disciples. Tebrizi had a profound effect on Celaleddin, who became devoted to him. In 1247, Rumi's own disciples put Tebrizi to death because they feared his powerful influence over their master. Horrified, Rumi withdrew from the world to meditate. It was then he wrote his great poetic work, the Mathnawi. He also wrote many ruba'i and ghazal poems, which were collected into the Divan-i Kebir. |
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Rumi died in December, 1273. His son organized his followers into the brotherhood of whirling dervishes now known as the Mevlevi. Today, tourists and pilgrims can visit the tomb of Rumi, his father, and his son in Konya, Turkey at the Mevlâna Müzesi. This photo shows the tomb of Celaleddin Mevlâna Rumi at the Mevlâna Müzesi shrine in Konya, Turkey. |
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This museum/shrine once served as a monastery where members of the Mevlevi order lived and meditated. In addition to hosting the tombs of prominent dervishes, it has several hairs from the beard of Mohammed on display. Several of the cells in which members of the order once lived have been arranged to show dioramas of daily life in the monastery. To the right is a picture I took of one of them. Over the centuries, the dervishes orders held a great deal of influence with the Ottoman political, social and economic life. When Ataturk came to power in the early 20th century, he abolished the dervish orders and converted the monasteries to museums. Though outlawed, several dervish orders remained alive under the guise of fraternal brotherhoods. They were revived in 1957 in Konya as a "cultural association" intended to preserve a historic tradition. More than seven centuries after his death, religious and secular communities alike continue to honor Celaleddin Mevlâna Rumi as one of the world's greatest poets and philosophers ever known. |
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| On dervishes' heads are tall, conical felt hats signifying the tombstones of their egos. They wear long, white robes with full skirts which represent the shrouds of their egos. Over those are voluminous black cloaks representing their worldly tombs which they remove at the beginning of the ceremony to symbolize their deliverance from the cares and attachments of this world. |
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The semâ begins with a chanted prayer to The Prophet, who represents love, and all prophets before him. Next a kettledrum sounds as a symbol of the Divine order of the Creator, followed by haunting musical improvisation on the ney (reed flute) which symbolizes the Divine Breath which gives life to everything. The master bows, then leads the dervishes in a circle around the hall. As they pass the master's ceremonial position at the head of the hall, they bow to each other. This portrays the salutation of soul to soul concealed by shapes and bodies. |
| After three circles, the dervishes drop their black cloaks. One by one, arms folded on their breasts, they approach the master, bow, kiss his hand, receive instructions, then spin out onto the floor. Through whirling, the dervishes relinquish the earthly life to be reborn in mystical union with God. Opening their folded arms, the dervishes hold their right hands palm-up to receive the blessings of heaven. They hold their left hands palm-down to transfer the blessings to earth. |
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Eventually, the semâ reaches a point where all dervishes are simultaneously whirling. After about 10 minutes, all stop and kneel. Then rising, they begin again. This combination of whirling followed by salute is performed a total of four times. Each of the four repetitions of kneeling is a salute, and they signify:
At the conclusion of the whirling, the hafiz reads the Koran, especially the verse from Sura Bakara 2, verse 115: "Unto God belong the East and the West, and wherever you turn, there is God's countenance. He is all-embracing, all-knowing." The semâ closes with a prayer for the peace of the souls of all Prophets and all believers. | X
| Many dancers have been fascinated by the beautiful, haunting music used by dervishes. Played on the ney (a type of flute) and drums, and accompanied by chanting, this music has the power to captivate even when the words of the chants are in a language you can't understand. Never, never use dervish music (or any other Sufi music) for belly dance performances, especially if it contains vocals!!!! The chants are prayers, and using such music for Oriental dance would be deeply insulting and offensive to Muslims. Please respect Islam, and don't profane Islamic holy music in this way. |
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The holy city of Konya hosts the museum/shrine containing the tombs of Rumi, his father, his son, and several great leaders of the Mevlevi dervish order. For Turkish Muslims, this is a very holy place, and some people make pilgrimages to it to seek Rumi's intercession. If you visit the Mevlâna Müzesi, please approach it with the respect a religious shrine deserves. Even though you may be a tourist who does not follow Islam, remember that this shrine is holy to Muslims, and conduct yourself in a manner that will not interfere with their pilgrimage experience. Shorts and miniskirts would be disrespectful. Although not required, I would encourage women to wear a scarf on their head as a mark of cultural sensitivity. Consult a guidebook for advice on where in Turkey you can see a semâ. Semâs are typically open to observers, even non-Muslims. Alternatively, you may be able to find a folk dance show which includes a portrayal of whirling dervishes in addition to village dance forms. |
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For more photo galleries from Shira's July 2000 trip to Turkey, explore these other pages on this web site:
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This article originally appeared on the Suite101 web site, in the Middle Eastern Dance category, on December 8, 2000. I'd very much like to thank Morocco for organizing her "Tantalizing Turkey" tour, which gave me the opportunity to see many fascinating aspects of Turkish culture! |
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