[Mella]

Prince Charles and Camilla visit mystic poet's tomb & watch whirling dervishes

Prince Charles and his wife visited the mausoleum of one of Islam's greatest mystic poets Monday and watched the traditional whirling dance of his followers, the dervishes.

The British prince and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are on a four-day tour of historic sites in Turkey that will also take them to the cities of Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul.

In Konya, central Turkey, they visited the mausoleum of the 13th Century poet Mavlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, who is considered to be the father of Sufism — the mystical form of Islam that preaches tolerance and love.

The two gazed at handwritten books, costumes and verses of the Quran painted on the ceiling.

Prince Charles and the duchess later watched dervishes whirl in a traditional trancelike meditation, called sema, one palm turned up toward heaven, the other turned down toward earth.

In a speech after the sema ceremony, the prince said: "What better place then here near the resting place of (Rumi) to rededicate ourselves to the purpose of reacquiring an understanding heart and a rebalance of the East and West in ourselves."

Full article here: Click

[Mavi]

I am busy getting the good china out, they are heading to Meryemana tomorrow...

ÇATALHÖYÜK'TE İNCELEME
Charles ve eşi Camilla, bugün Konya'da Mevlana Müzesi'ni, İnce Minare'yi, Karatay Medresesi'ni ve Mevlana Kültür Merkezi'ni ziyaret edecek. Mevlana Kültür Merkezi'nde sema gösterisini de izleyecek olan Prens Charles, burada konuşma yapacak. Gezisinin Konya bölümü çerçevesinde, kazı başkanlığını İngiliz arkeoloji profesörü Ian Hodder'in yaptığı Çatalhöyük'e de gidecek olan Charles, kazı alanda incelemelerde bulunacak. Yarın Efes'te Meryemana'ya gidip hacı olacak Prens Charles'ın, İzmir programına, organik tarıma olan merakı nedeniyle Kemalpaşa'da bir tesis gezisi de eklendi. Charles, ziyareti kapsamında İstanbul'a da gidecek.
from Sabah (in turkish)