Imagine a hall filled with the soft rustle of flowing white skirts, the steady rhythm of a drum, and a circle of figures spinning in perfect harmony, their movements both hypnotic and transcendent. This is the world of the Whirling Dervishes, a mesmerizing spiritual practice that has captivated audiences for centuries.
Origins of the Mevlevi Order
The Mevlevi Order traces its roots to 13th-century Konya, inspired by the teachings of the Sufi poet and philosopher Mevlâna Celaleddin Rumi (1207–1273). Following Rumi’s death in 1273, the order was formally established in Konya, then a thriving centre of art and learning under the Seljuk Turks. Rumi’s writings focused on love, inner peace, and spiritual growth. As he said: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
The Mevlevis embrace the idea of shedding worldly attachments to achieve harmony and union with God. For them, death is not an end but a celebration of this ultimate spiritual connection.
The Sema Ceremony
The Sema, the signature ritual of the Mevlevis, evolved from Rumi’s habit of whirling in ecstatic joy through Konya’s streets. Today, it represents a mystical journey of the soul’s ascent toward perfection. Dervishes can whirl for hours, their white skirts flaring as they spin, entering a trance-like state that brings them closer to the Divine.
As they whirl, dervishes raise their right hands toward the sky and extend their left hands toward the earth, symbolizing: “What we receive from God, we give to man; we ourselves possess nothing.” Their spinning reflects the rotation of the universe in the presence of God and the shedding of earthly ties.
Recognition and Celebration
In 2008, UNESCO named the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” Each year, Konya hosts a ten-day festival culminating on December 17th, the anniversary of Rumi’s death, often called his “wedding night.” Dervishes perform the Sema in circles, achieving inner peace and offering a breathtaking testament to centuries of devotion, love, and spiritual tradition.
Be mesmerised as the Whirling Dervishes whirl—a living embodiment of harmony, faith, and transcendence.
