Konya Turkey

Konya Turkey


We arrived in the afternoon after a long bus ride to the city of Konya which is towards the south of Turkey. It is a large city over a million people and a very conservative religious one. It is the place where we have seen the most women wearing headscarves for example. It is also a university town so there are lots of stylish young women with headscarves to match the outfit.

A street scene in Konya

A stylish family walking ahead of me

The city seemed really vibrant with a modern touch as well as being clean. Our hotel was well located so we were able to walk everywhere.

This was a stopover because of a long road trip, however it is also a place of pilgrimage for Muslims who come to pay homage to Melvana Rumi who is the 13th century founder of the whirling dervish sect, an Islamic Sufi movement. The night before we had attended a whirling dervish religious ceremony which took place in a restored caravan that had been used centuries ago when traders would stop on their way from East to West.

The turquoise color of the mosque is the colour of Rumi the Sufi

The color is everywhere in the city even in the city buses

We couldn’t quite fiqure out this ceremony and were not allowed to take pictures so I can only show you an example from a photo of a postcard. They believe in order to achieve one with the universe you need to revolve as everything in the universe revolves. Therefore their ritual is to whirl themselves into a trance to commune with the universe. They are dressed in white skirts with pointed felt hats and as they whirl their skirts whirl as well. We were all tired so during the ceremony when the music played and the dervish twirled it was hard to stay awake! Even though we didn’t quite get it, it was still a neat thing to see.

A single whirling dervish

A group of whirling dervish,there were five in the group we saw

So when we were in Konya we went to the tomb and museum of Rufi who as I said believed that music and dance represented a way for universal love and union. It is a holy site with many people praying throughout the complex. The body of Rumi is also here in a beautiful mosque. Another shrine was a small box which contained the hair of Mohammed that seemed to be receiving a lot of prayer and attention.

This woman has just been drinking from the holy fountain,notice the communal pink cup

I decided to buy a little English translation of Rumi’s words of wisdom so here are a couple…

" Thy fruit ought to become sweeter and not move farther backwards like rope makers "

"Strive to become intoxicated and illumined,in order that his light may be like the rhyme letter to your discourse"     I wonder who did the translations??

Sufi Rumi's tomb which is made of metal in this colorful room which is decorated with these beautiful colors.The object on top is a dervish hat as well

Don didn’t go to the museum do he wondered around by himself while I went with a few of the group to see the ancient art of felt making and of course had to buy a little memento.Again no picture as I was too busy investigating what I could buy that would fit in my backpack.

Another common sight, shoe shine men

The food here was also unique so for lunch we ate with our guide and Wen Shui at a very local spot that served turit, a very tasty dish of strips of lamb over bread soaked in milk and yogurt then baked in butter with herbs and greens. The local dessert called zareck was something like our rice pudding but thinner with a sugar and orchid water with turmeric and cinnamon. Tasted very sweet, even a bit much for me.

This tastes as good as it looks!