Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, the great islamic mystical philosopher, lived and taught in 13th century in the city of Konya in Middle Anatolia, Turkey. He influenced many people around the world until today with his thoughts about Love, Peace and Tolerance. “Come, come again, whoever you are, come …”

Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi died on December 17 in the year 1273. This day is named as “Şeb-i-Arus”, what means literally translated “wedding night”.
“When you see my funeral don´t say: What for a separation. 
It is time for me to meet the lover…”
After Mevlanas death the mausoleum was established over which today rises up the “Kubbe-i-Hadra” (the Green Dome), it became the symbol of Konya. Rumi was buried near his father in the Rosegarden of the Seljuk Palace. The “Tekke” was built, a building for meetings and studies, the Sema hall for mystical dances and small cells for meditation practice like “Zikr” (Thinking of God).

Read more about Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi

Sema – The Whirling Dervishs of Konya
The ritual of SEMA, the mystic dance of turning Mevlevi dervishs found its origin in an inspiration of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi. Accompanied by the sounds of the flute NEY and other instruments, the whirling dervish is turning around his own axis, the right hand upward to be ready to receice God’s beneficence and the left hand downward to the earth. It symbols the mankind with their connection between heaven and earth.

© Photos by Jens Helmstedt