KONYA - Nearly 4 thousand people visited Mevlana Museum in central province of Konya on Saturday.
Curator Erdogan Erol told the A.A correspondent, ''ceremonies to mark the 730th anniversary of Mevlana's reunion started on December 10. There is a considerable increase in number of Turkish and foreign tourists visiting our museum this year. A total of 1 thousand 200 people visited the museum on December 10, 1 thousand 300 on December 11 and 2 thousand 600 on December 12. In four hours on December 13, nearly 4 thousand people visited the museum. We expect this number to increase up to 10 thousand till the end of the day.''
Jalal ud-din Rumi known as Mevlana, devoted himself to the pursuit of Sufi mysticism, in which field he is justly regarded as a supreme master. He was the spiritual founder of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes. His most important work, composed during the last ten years of his life, was the Mathnawi-i Manawi. Second to this is the Diwan-i Shams-i Tabriz, a collection of lyrics (ghazals) dedicated to his spiritual guide Shamsuddin of Tabriz. His main subject is the relationship between man and God on the one hand, and between man and man, on the other. He apparently believed in Pantheism and portrayed the various stages of man's evolution in his journey towards the Ultimate.
(UK) 13.12.2003