KONYA - British Crown Prince Charles will arrive in central Anatolian city of Konya at the end of November to watch a sema (dance of whirling dervishes) performance.
Prince Charles will be the guest of Konya Municipality during his stay in this Anatolian city.
Crown Prince Charles will also visit historical and tourist attractions like Catalhoyuk excavation area and Mevlana Museum.
British archeology professor Ian Hodder is heading the excavations in Catalhoyuk.
Queen Sophia of Spain visited Konya and Mevlana Museum on September 25th.
-MEVLANA AND SEMA-
Jalal ud-Din Muhammed Rumi, who is also known as Mevlana, was great thinker and founder of the Mevlevi Order.
His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him and to his disciples all religions are more or less truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, his peaceful and tolerant teaching has appealed to men of all sects and creeds.
The "dance" of the Whirling Dervishes is called Sema. Sema is a part of the inspiration of Mevlana as well as part of the Turkish custom, history, beliefs and culture.
Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, his growth through love, desert his ego, find the truth and arrive to the "Perfect," then he return from this spiritual journey as a man who reached maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation, to all creatures without discrimination of believes, races, classes and nations.