KONYA, Turkey – The skirts of whirling dervishes twirl in a symphony of disco colours celebrating mystic Sufi poet Rumi at a cultural centre in central Turkey’s Konya.
Every year, the “Seb-i Arus” (“Wedding Night”) festival honouring Rumi’s death on December 17, 1273, draws so many people that traditional venues are not large enough to contain the crowds.
Pilgrims, tourists, meditation enthusiasts and the curious flock to this vast Anatolian city, where Rumi — or Mevlana as he is known in Turkey — spent most of his life after being driven out of modern-day Afghanistan in the 12th century by Mongol invaders.
His writings have gradually spread well beyond central Asia and won acclaim in the West. Pop legend Madonna adapted one of Rumi’s poems and Beyonce named her daughter after him.
“Rumi’s works have been translated into almost every language, and in the United…
