“There is an inseparable bond between Konya and His Holiness Maulana,” says Kerem Polat, 30, a whirling dervish living in Konya who learned the ceremonial dances from his grandfather and began ...

Today, Konya is Turkey’s sixth-largest city and ... “Whirling is in my blood — my father was a whirling dervish, and his father before him,” he says, telling me about the strenuous ...

The skirts of whirling dervishes twirl in a symphony of disco colours celebrating mystic Sufi poet Rumi in central Turkey’s Konya. The skirts of whirling dervishes twirl in a symphony of disco ...

Konya is also known as the home of the Mevlevi order, the Sufi sect that follows the teachings of Rumi, often called whirling dervishes, due to their distinctive spinning prayer known as Sema.

Spiritual performers will bring an ancient tradition to life with hypnotic music, colorful costumes and the sight of dervishes whirling on stage. The Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue and the ...