Whirling dervishes festival in Turkey Nov 19, 2009

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One of the brightest and most spectacular acts of the world is approaching – the Festival of Whirling Dervishes, which takes place every year in the Turkish city of Konya. From December 10th to December 17th, near the mausoleum of Persian poet and philosopher Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi. There will be tens of thousands of people present and the dervishes will perform ceremonial dances every day, in order to cherish the memory of the great teacher and thinker. The dervishes are whirling in flowing white robes and with conic hats on their heads under the accompaniment of drums and flutes, their right hands are pointed upward to get the blessings from the sky, and their left hands are pointed down, to pass the blessing to the earth. The state of trance reached by the dervishes during their whirling allows them to fell closer to God.

The conic hats of the dancers symbolize tombs, their robes are the coffins, and the white skirts are a representation of the savan. The instructor stands in the center, and is normally associated with the sun, and the dancers move around him as if following an orbit – with the Moon and the stars. According to the traditions the dervishes perform four different dances, symbolizing the four seasons of the year, four elements of life, and four stages of a human life. The festival of whirling dervishes is registered in the Guinness Book of World records as the most visited event.

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