Whirling Dervishes

The religious order of the Whirling Dervishes, know also as the order of Mevlevi, dates from 13th century. It founder, Celaleddin Rumi, also known as Mevlana, was a Sufi mystic and a poet who believed that dance and music helped believers to enter a religious state and thus discover divine love. Thus Rumi established a religion or philosophy based mainly on tolerance.

Throughout most of Anatolia dervish lodges (tekke) served as centers of the Mevlevi order but the core of the movement was the city of Konya, where today there is the museum of the founder. In addition, there is a special Mevlana festival held in December every year honoring Rumi and the movement. Central to the religion is the ceremony, called sema, the climax of which is the whirling dance. Performed in traditional symbolic costumes of a conical hat which represents the tombstone of the ego, and white robes which represent its shroud, the whirling dance is the symbol of the Whirling Dervishes.