Sufi Whirling Dervishes of Istanbul

The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (Turkish: Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; Persian: طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the “whirling dervishes“ due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens. In 2008, UNESCO confirmed “The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony“ as amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Approximately 750 years old, the Mevlevi Order is a living tradition based on the teachings of Rumi, also known as Mevlana, who is perhaps Turkey’