ISTANBUL, Turkey — Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order spun through sema ceremonies in this city and in Konya as Turkey marked the 752nd anniversary of Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi’s death, Wednesday. Set to live religious music, the turning rite is meant as worship, and the commemoration, known as Sheb-i Arus, or the “night of the union,” drew worshippers and visitors seeking a public moment of reflection, Dec. 17, 2025.
Whirling dervishes in Istanbul keep a centuries-old ritual alive
The Istanbul ceremonies unfolded at restored Mevlevi lodges and halls, where the whirling dervishes entered in tall felt hats and dark cloaks before revealing white robes whose skirts flare with each rotation. The room stays quiet as reed flute and percussion build a steady cadence and the dancers circle in controlled steps.
An Associated Press photo gallery documented rites at Kasimpasa Mevlevihane and a municipal cultural center, showing how the ritual is being safeguarded — and shared — beyond the Mevlevi order’s historic lodges.
Konya’s Sheb-i Arus rites draw whirling dervishes back to Mevlana’s heartland
In Konya — where Rumi is buried and where devotees call him Mevlana, or “our master” — the commemoration stretches across days of events and ends with the best-known night of ritual turning. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s official schedule and ticket information lists ceremonies from Dec. 7-17, 2025, concluding with the Sheb-i Arus program at 7 p.m. in the Sema Hall of the Konya Mevlana Cultural Center. The ministry asks attendees to enter before 7 p.m., underscoring the ceremony’s formal rhythm.
Organizers framed this year’s theme as “Time for Serenity,” and Anadolu Agency reported that the opening rites drew visitors from across Turkey and abroad, including the United States and Japan.
What the whirling dervishes say the sema symbolizes
For insiders, the sema is not an improvised dance but a disciplined religious practice shaped by training and ritual order. In a 2022 Associated Press report, Ahmet Sami Kucuk, head of the dervishes in Konya, described the whirling as an “end” — a state reached only after years of preparation. The report also noted that whirling dervishes revolve with the right hand turned up toward God and the left turned down toward the earth, a posture followers interpret as receiving and giving.
UNESCO’s description of the Mevlevi Sema ceremony says dancers traditionally underwent 1,001 days of reclusive training in Mevlevi houses, learning ethics alongside prayer, religious music and poetry. UNESCO also notes the ceremony follows structured vocal and instrumental compositions featuring a singer and a reed-flute player, among other musicians.
Continuity across the years, even as the audience changes
The mix of devotion and curiosity is not new. A 2015 Guardian photo essay captured Konya’s festival as a citywide event, with whirling dervishes performing through a multiday run of ceremonies. And a 2024 National Geographic Traveller feature noted that hotels can be booked months ahead for December visits, showing how the rites also drive winter travel.
Still, the point of the night remains unchanged for believers: to honor Rumi’s “reunion” as a spiritual homecoming. When the music fades and the spinning slows, the whirling dervishes bow and the crowd exhales, leaving a brief hush of shared attention that makes a modern city feel, for a moment, timeless.
