Mevlâna Festival – Whirling Derivshes, Konya, Turkey
Posted by Jackie Hewett on Fri 17th October 2008 at 01:27 AM, Filed in Europe, December
A million or so people descent on Konya for this 700+ year old tradition taking place at the museum of Mevlana in Konya, which gives the festival its name. The festival takes place over a fortnight starting at the beginning of December with the highlight being the final night – 17th December.
Mevlana Jalal al-din Rumi was a 13th Century Sufic saint who was a poet and founder of the Mevlevi Sufi Brotherhood. It is said he was a great teacher who imparted lessons in tolerance optimism and holiness, believing that all religions are more or less good. The brotherhood created the whirling dervishes and Sufis believe that dance brings them closer to God and the teachings of Mevlana.
In this very traditional dance the dance leader represents the sun and other dancers are the stars in orbit. There are four dances representing the four seasons and dancers spin for up to 15 minutes continuously. The participants wear tall conical hats and white dresses that spin out like upside-down umbrellas as they perform their dizzying dances accompanied by an orchestra playing pipes, drums and fiddles. Dancers fix their gaze on the floor and hold their arms high to receive heavenly blessings as they spin rotate anti-clockwise and amazingly maintain their position to each other.
Konya is one of the most ancient settlements in Central Anatolia in South central Turkey, an hours drive south of Ankara. Whilst admission to the museum during the festival is free locals do take commercial advantage of the now popular festival as room rates double. The town is one of the most devout and conservative towns in Turkey, women wear traditional Islamic clothes and alcohol is hard to come by. Female visitors are strongly advised to dress modestly and even carry a headscarf to wear when visiting any tombs or mosques.
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