‘Let the beauty we love be what we do’ — Rumi
Konya is Rumi’s home and there is peace and serenity in this Turkish town that you will be blessed to find. What adds to the overall experience of Konya’s Sufi history and traditions is the Sama’a at Konya’s Mevlâna Cultural Center, the grandest Sama’a (or Sema) hall in Konya. The layout is like a 360 degree amphitheater and amidst a huge crowd of people, you witness an utterly beautiful Sama’a that transports you to another time, pulling out deep feelings within yourself so that you are amazed at the effect of the experience. Here Rumi’s message of love, respect and tolerance as a means to spiritual growth appears in front of you, via this astounding dance of the devout.
My one day trip, along with two other friends who visit the shrine annually, had been planned carefully on a Saturday so that in the evening we could attend the Sama’a at Konya’s Mevlâna Cultural Center. Our aim was a peaceful interlude, away from the hectic demands of being a tourist in Istanbul. Located in the province of Anatolia, Konya is easily accessible from Istanbul by air and road.
If historical antiquity is of interest to you, especially the long-standing Sufi tradition — an indelible part of Muslim culture — then Konya is at the heart of it. Here the life of Maulana Jalal-ud-din Rumi, also known by the honorific Mevlâna in Turkey, is recorded with attention to detail at the Mevlâna Museum which is also the mausoleum and tomb of this great mystic and Sufi saint of the 12th century.
Jalaludin Rumi, the son of an Islamic scholar, and his family, came to Konya from Balkh in Afghanistan in a bid to escape the approaching Mongol hordes intent on destroying all that they surveyed. Anatolia was thriving in 1228 and was an area that enjoyed relative peace for many years under the rule of the Turkish Seljuq dynasty. It was in Konya that Rumi met the wandering mystic Shams al-Din of Tabriz who exerted a powerful influence over him which resulted in the deep love for the Divine in Rumi’s famous Masnavi.
Modern Konya is an industrial town with flat geographical topography situated in the Anatolian Plateau — it is the seventh largest city in the country. My friends and I had booked ourselves in the centrally located Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, a stone’s throw from the Mevlâna Cultural Centre — half a mile on the other side of the hotel is the shrine of Mevlâna Rumi and his disciples — this is also the location where Sufis’ studied and were inducted in the Sufi ‘tareeqa.’ When you enter the compound you can walk around the dervish cells to see how they lived. Muslims from around the world come to this shrine for ziarat — it is advisable to go in wudhu so that you can say your prayers in the mosque adjoining the shrine.
After this you can walk the length of the entire shrine/ Mevlâna Museum and proceed to say fateha at Rumi’s grave which is adorned with his Mevlâvi turban, in an area decorated with the most beautiful calligraphy. Traditionally, people usually visit the grave of Shams al-Din Tabriz before Rumi’s, however, due to a shortage of time we were unable to do that — next time. At the shrine, relics are kept with the utmost care in glass cases and it is a moving experience to behold the Sufi saint’s cap and cloak, as well as antique hand written copies of the Quran that have been there for centuries. Rumi’s tomb, is surrounded by the graves of his disciples, followers and family, the huge sarcophagus’s are capped with large turbans — the air hangs heavy with history and spiritual perseverance which is the hallmark of the Islamic dervish and Sufi mystic.
If you’re in the mood for meditative contemplation and desirous of being spiritually alert, the peaceful energy in Konya will hit the spot. Spend your time doing what makes you happy. ‘Seek and ye shall find.’
