Highlights

Immerse yourself in the spiritual world of the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony, an integral part of Travel in Turkey. The Mevleviye, known for their mesmerizing whirling dances, perform Sema – an ancient ritual where dancers spin in harmony to a unique musical composition known as ayin. This music, dating back to the mid-sixteenth century, blends Persian and Turkish traditions, featuring vocal and instrumental pieces with contrasting rhythms. A typical ensemble includes at least one singer, a flute-player (neyzen), a kettledrummer, and a cymbal player.
The journey to becoming a whirling dervish involves 1,001 days of secluded training in a mevlevihane, a type of spiritual retreat, where they learn ethics, behavior codes, and religious practices, deeply rooted in prayer, music, poetry, and dance. Following their training, participants continue their regular lives, merging spiritual practices with everyday duties.
The actual Sema ceremony, conducted in a large, circular room within the mevlevihane, begins after several hours of fasting. The dancers, or whirlers, rotate on their left feet in rapid, rhythmic movements, driving their bodies with the right foot, with eyes open but unfocused to allow a trance-like state.
Despite the closure of mevlevihane due to secularization policies in 1925, the tradition persisted. In the 1950s, the Turkish government permitted the Whirling Dervishes to perform annually in Konya on December 17, marking the anniversary of Rumi's death. By 1974, the performances reached Western audiences, including a performance for Pope Paul VI in France and shows in the United States and Canada, under the direction of the late Mevlevi Shaikh Suleyman Hayati Dede. Despite initial restrictions, the government later allowed public performances, and since the 1990s, private groups have worked to revive the ceremony's original spiritual essence.
The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony was declared an Intangible World Heritage by UNESCO in October 2005, recognizing its significance in traditional performing arts and social practices. This ceremony is not just a cultural spectacle but a deeply spiritual experience, reflecting centuries of mystical tradition.