Konya:
Historically Iconium city, central Turkey.The entire Konya basin was a lake 18 thousand years ago. Over 10 thousand years, it had drained to form a rich alluvial plain with fertile grazing land in the east and thick forest to the west and south. The city lies at an elevation of about 3,370 feet (1,027 m) on the southwest edge of the central Anatolian Plateau and is surrounded by a narrow, fertile plain. It is backed by Bozkir Mountain on the west and enclosed by the interior edges of the central Taurus ranges further south. The southwestern part of the city has been redesigned, and a wide avenue leads through…
Size: 5th largest city in Turkey.
Altitude: 1,028 m / 3,372 ft
IIndustry: Aluminum, textiles, animal foods, sugar, chrome, cement,salt
Agriculture: Grain (90%), sugar beets, chickpeas, apples, grapes
Animal husbandry: Sheep
History: Chalcolithic, Hittite, Phrygian, Cimmerian, Lydian, Persian, Alexander the Great, Pergamum, Roman, Seljuk, Ottoman, Turkish Republic
The Mevlevis
A great Turkish poet and mystic. The Mevlevi are members followers of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi. The mevlevis order of whirling dervishes is a mystic group. The brotherhood is based in Konya, where its founder is buried. Mevlana was never the head of an order, and the brotherhood was not established by himself but by his followers and devoted companions. The order derived its essence, rites, moral code and discipline from the mystical path first shown by Mevlana. It was a synthesis of spiritual love attained by a combination of music and dance which was considered to be the basic requirement for the spiritual ecstasy and devotion
Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi (1207-1273)
Mevlana was born in 1207 in Balkh, Afghanistan. His father, Bahaeddin Veled, was a distinguished teacher who, because of his great learning, had been honored with the title of Lord of Scholars.
Possibly because of the threat imposed by the approaching Mongolian armies, Bahaeddin decided to take his family away from Balkh. They went to several places and after staying here and there, Bahaeddin felt drawn to Anatolia and came to Karaman in 1221. There they stayed for 7 years and Mevlana was married in 1225.
Alaattin Keykubat, the ruler of Konya, implored him to come to Konya. Bahaeddin finally acceded to the sultan’s request in 1228 and he taught in Konya until his death in 1231. Mevlana took his father’s place and quickly established a reputation for scholarship. He had an extensive understanding of all aspects of philosophy and was an avid reader of the works of classical authors.
One day in 1244, he met a ragged dervish who asked him a number of searching questions. This was the man known as Shams Tabrizi. Shams and Mevlana quickly became close friends and spent days and weeks closeted together in philosophical discussion. Mevlana left his teaching and appeared rarely in public. This caused jealousy and anger among his students and friends who believed that he had been bewitched by an evil sorcerer. In 1246 Shams disappeared as suddenly and as mysteriously as he had appeared. Mevlana became crazy and wrote poems about the separation of Shams. After long inquiries he finally learned that Shams was in Damascus. He wrote him letters begging him to return. Shams returned and their friendship and discussions resumed. In order to draw him more into his family, Mevlana offered his adopted daughter to Shams in marriage. However, one night in 1247, Shams disappeared for good. He was most probably murdered by his enemies.
Mevlana could not be comforted. He gave himself again to writing poetry about Shams. This time it was Husameddin Celebi who helped him to continue his philosophical speculations. He inspired him to write his greatest work, the "Mesnevi". It was a collection of 25,600 poems in 6 volumes.
In 1273, Mevlana became sick and people around him knew that he was dying and they cried in sorrow. He told his friends that death was union with God and he was longing for this union. Finally he died on December 17, 1273, was buried in Konya, and a tomb was built upon his sarcophagus.
Mevlana Museum
At the very heart of Konya, in more ways than one, is the Mevlāna Muzesi (Mevlana Museum), the former tekke (dervish hall) that now holds the tomb of Mevlāna Jelaleddin Rumī, founder of the Mevlevi order of dervishes, commonly called the Whirling Dervishes.
The Mevlāna Muzesi is a place of pilgrimage for Muslims because Rumī is a saint. His poetic message of peace, love of God and one's fellow creatures, resounds to a far wider audience today than it did over 700 years ago when Rumī preached and taught in Konya, and whirled in ecstasy through its streets. Muslim and non-Muslim pilgrims come from throughout the world to visit his tomb.
You enter the courtyard of the tekke, with the dervish cells to your left and administrative offices to the right. Approach the main building with its distinctive green-tiled cylindrical dome, and you'll be asked to cover your shoes with thin plastic covers to keep the interior clean.
Inside on the right, the tombs of Rumī's family and descendants lie beside those of dozens of Mevlevi sheiks (leaders of the order).
At the corner, beneath the dome, is the tomb of Rumī himself, resplendent in gold decoration and covered in cloth-of-gold. (What you see is a cenotaph. Rumī's actual tomb is beneath it.) This is the oldest part of the building, dating to Seljuk times. The rest of the building consists of later additions.
face the tomb, no doubt praying for Rumī's intercession.
Beyond Rumī's tomb, the two large rooms once used for the Mevlevi whirling sema ceremony are now lined with glass cases holding exhibits of Mevlevi historical artifacts: Rumī's personal effects, including his conical caps and his prayer carpet; clothing of his son and succesor, Sultan Veled; and the elaborate hat of Rumī's spiritual companion Semsi Tebrizi. Other objects include old dervish musical instruments, including the ney, or Mevlevi flute, made of bamboo.
Remember: these artifacts are over seven centuries old!
In the next room are antique prayer carpets—one, of silk, with more than four million knots!—as well as illuminated Kur'ans, Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) and learned commentaries and prayer beads. The central glass case holds relics of the Prophet Muhammed.
Outside, you may want to visit the exhibits in the dervish cells which illustrate the Mevlevi's daily life, organization and worship.
As you leave the museum complex, be prepared to be accosted by carpet touts, an unpleasant, discordant ending to the serene hour of your visit.
Every year, commemoration ceremonies are held in Konya on December 17th (Seb-i Aruz), the night of Rumī's "wedding night with God," (that is, of his earthly death). Rumī devotees and pilgrims come from around the world to see the dervishes whirl and to pay their respects to the poet-mystic-saint.
"Tilavet" is an Arabic word which means reading the Koran with a beautiful voice and the correct rhythm. The room takes its name from its function in the past. At present it is used as the Calligraphy Department.
The calligraphy section contains the framed works of famous calligraphers of their time such as Mahmud Celaleddin, Mustafa Rakim, Hulusi, Yesarizade as well as a gilt relief frame done by Sultan Mahmut II. The couplet in Farsi engraved on the silver door with the calligraphy of Yesarizade Mustafa Izzet Efendi says:
Kabetu'l-ussāk bāsed in mekam
Her ki nakis amed incā sod temam
(Let this be the Kaaba of the minstrels. Who ever enters here in half, finds himself whole)
Huzur-i Pir (Mausoleum)
The hall of the mausoleum is entered from a silver door which was donated in 1599 by Hasan Pasha, who is the son of Sokollu Mehmet Pasha. Here, the oldest copies of the famous works of Mevlana the "Mesnevi" and "Divan-i Kebir" are displayed in two glass fronted cabinets. The mausoleum hall is roofed with three small domes. The third dome which is also called the skin dome joins, the green dome in the north.
The hall is bordered with a platform on its east, south and north sides. In the north where there is a two level platform, the sarcophagi of 6 Sacred horasan men are placed. Right at the feet of these, the Target Stone, made for Ilhanli King Ebu said Bahadir Khan.
There are also two framed inscriptions which are important as they reflect the thoughts and philosophy of Mevlana. The first frame is in Turkish and says:
"Either seem as you are
Or be as you seem" (Hz. Mevlana)
Second frame is a quatrain of Mevlana in Persian. In translation it reads:
"Come, Come who or whatever you are
Should you be an unbeliever, a Magian or a pagan still come
Our lodge is not a lodge of despair
With hundred repentances unheeded you may be, still, come" (Hz. Mevlana )
On the high platform bordering the mausoleum hall on the east and south there are 55 graves, ten of which belong to ladies and the whole group belongs to the family members of Mevlana, and his father. There are ten other graves which belong to people such as Husameddin Celebi, Selahaddin Zerkubi and Sheyh Kerimuddin who had reached high ranks in the sect of Mevlevi.
Right under the Green Dome there are the graves of Mevlana and his son Sultan Veled. The double hunched marble sarcophagus over the graves was donated in 1565 by Suleyman the Magnificent. The quilt embroidered with gold thread placed over the sarcophagus is a Seljuk masterpiece and was made for Mevlana in 1274. When Suleyman the Magnificent had a new marble sarcophagus made over the graves of Mevlana and son, the original wood one was removed and put over the grave of Mevlana's father.
Semahane (Ritual Hall)
The Semahane section together with the small mosque was built by Suleyman the Magnificent in the 16th century. Sema ceremonies were continued at this ritual hall until 1926, when the Dergah (Dervish lodge) was converted to a museum. The Naat Pew in the Hall, the place where the musicians set (Mutrib cells) and the sections for men and women are preserved in their original state, while metal and glass objects and musical instruments of the Mevlevi are displayed in glassed cabinets and rugs of historical value are hung on appropriate walls of the Semahane.
Mosque
The small mosque or the mesjid is entered from the Cerag (apprentice) Gate. There are additional small entrances from the Semahane and the Huzur - Pir, the cemetery. The place for the muezzin and the Mesnevihan Pew are kept in their original state.
Extremely valuable rug and wooden door samples are displayed on the south wall of the mosque and in 10 glassed cabinets put around this space, significant examples of binding, calligraphy and gilding are exhibited.
Rug and Fabric Section - Dervish Cells
There are 17 small cells, each with a small dome and chimney around the west and north sides of the front court of the Mevlana Lodge. These cells were built in 1584 by Sultan Murat III to house the dervishes.
Four cells to the right of the entrance gate are at present used as a ticket window and administration offices. The first two of the 13 cells to the left of the gate used as "Postnisin" and "Mesnevi-han" cells are kept in their original form and presented to the public.
The last two cells at the end are allocated to the very valuable book collections donated by Abdulbaki Gölpinarli and Dr. Mehmed Önder, and they are used as a library.
The partition walls of the remaining 9 cells were removed providing two interconnected large corridors. In one of these corridors old rugs of historical value from regions famous for their rugs such as Kula, Gördes, Usak and Kirsehir are displayed while the other has old rugs from districts of Konya such as Ladik, Karaman, Karapinar and Sille which are centres of rug weaving. Display windows built in the window and door sills of these cells display artefacts of Mevlevi ethnography such as "Pazarci masasi", "Mutteka", "Nefir" which were transferred to the museum from the Lodge, and the extremely valuable Bursa fabrics from the museum collection
Matbah (Kitchen) Section
The kitchen is on the south west corner of the museum. It was built by Sultan Murat II in 1548. Until the lodge was converted to a museum in 1926 the meals were being provided from here.
This section was restored in 1990 and the display was rearranged with mannequins. Cooking, the basic function of the kitchen and the "somat" the special table routine is demonstrated with mannequins. Another such illustration was attempted, to show the other function of the kitchen which is related to the initiations of the novice, called "Nev-ni-yaz", and involves practice of Sema.
