Konya, the central Anatolian city that serves as the spiritual home of the Mevlevi tradition, expects roughly 60,000 visitors this year for its annual commemoration of Jalal ud-din Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic known in Türkiye as Mevlana. Hotel rooms sold out weeks in advance of the 17 December ceremony, which marks the 733rd anniversary of his death.
Mustafa Holat, head of the local Dervish lodge, said 23 Sema performances are scheduled across 17 days. The ritualistic whirling, he explained, symbolizes a spiritual ascent toward the divine, culminating in a return to earthly life enriched by love and wisdom.
Holat noted that Mevlevi troupes have performed before hundreds of thousands of spectators abroad, with strong interest in the United States, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. Engagements in 45 countries are planned for 2007.
Mevlana was born on 30 September 1207 in Balkh, in present-day Afghanistan, and died in Konya on 17 December 1273. His tomb there remains a major pilgrimage site. His masterwork, the six-volume Mathnawi-i Manawi, contains roughly 30,000 couplets blending Sufi doctrine, fables, and observations on physics and psychology.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.