DUSHANBE, December 21, 2009, Asia-Plus — Minister of Culture Mirzoshorukh Asrori represented Tajikistan at the Mevlana Memorial Celebrations, dedicated to famous Persian-Tajik poet and sufi mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, that took place in Konya, turkey on December 10-17.
According to the Ministry of Culture (MoC), a million or so people gather in Konya for more than 700-year-old tradition taking place at the Museum of Mawlana Rumi in Konya, which gives the festival its name. The festival takes place over a fortnight starting at the beginning of December with the highlight being the final night – December 17. traditional sufi dance is performed during the Mevlana Memrial Celebrations in Konya.
Sufi whirling (or Sufi spinning), is a physically active meditation, which originated among Sufis, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mawlawiya Order. It is a customary dance performed within the Sama, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes aim to reach the source of all perfection. This is sought through abandoning one”s nafs, egos or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one”s body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun.
In this customary dance the dance leader represents the sun and other dancers are the stars in orbit. There are four dances representing the four seasons and dancers spin for up to 15 minutes continuously. The participants wear tall conical hats and white dresses that spin out like upside-down umbrellas as they perform their dizzying dances accompanied by an orchestra playing pipes, drums and fiddles. Dancers fix their gaze on the floor and hold their arms high to receive heavenly blessings as they spin rotate anti-clockwise and amazingly maintain their position to each other.
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhī also known as Jalāl ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, and popularly known as Mawlana but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi
(September 30, 1207 – December 17, 1273), was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, theologian, and sufi mystic. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning “the Roman” since he lived most of his life in an area called Rum because it was once ruled by the Byzantine Empire.
Rumi was born in the Iranian north eastern province of Khorasan in the city of Balkh (now in Afghanistan), the hometown of his father”s family. Some scholars, however, argue that he may have been born in Vakhsh, a small town located at the river Vakhsh in what is now Tajikistan. Vakhsh belonged to the larger province of Balkh, and in the year Rumi was born, his father was an appointed scholar there.
Both these cities were at the time included in the Greater Persian cultural sphere of Khorasan, the easternmost province of historical Persia.
Rumi lived most of his life under the Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works
and died in 1273 CE. He was buried in Konya and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage.
Following his death, his followers and his son Sultan Walad founded the Mawlawiya Sufi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance known as sama ceremony.
Rumi”s works are written in the new Persian language. Although Rumi”s works were written in Persian, Rumi”s importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His original works are widely read in their original language across the Persian-speaking world. Translations of his works are very popular in other countries. His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu literature. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world”s languages and transposed into various formats; Rumi was described as the “most popular poet in America” in 2007
