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©TIE
2004-2008
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Konya's new Mevlâna
Cultural Center (Mevlâna
Kültür
Merkezi),
one kilometer east of the
Mevlâna
Museum, past the Üçler
Mezarligi (cemetery), is the
world's grandest and most modern
whirling
dervish tekke (hall).
Built to honor Mevlâna Jelaleddin
Rumî and his Mevlevi
(Whirling) Dervishes, the center
has a huge Sema Hall and
smaller spaces for other dervish-related
and cultural activities.
For decades Konya's Mevlevi
dervishes whirled in the city's Sports
Hall, the largest enclosed space in the
city, during Seb-i Aruz,
the annual commemoration of Rumî's
"wedding night with God" (his death).
The Sports Hall's hardwood floor was
suitable for the sema, but
its bad acoustics, harsh lighting
and basketball nets
detracted from the mystic atmosphere.
With the opening of the Mevlâna
Cultural Center, Konya's Mevlevi
dervishes and Rumî's
millions of admirers finally have a suitable
place in which to celebrate Rumî's
message of love, tolerance and respect.
If you'd like to attend the annual Seb-i
Aruz commemorations in
December, click here.
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The
large Mevlâna Kültür
Merkezi in Konya, Turkey.
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