Attire and Instruments

	Mevlana
	Dervish Orders
	His Life and Poems
	Sema and Zikr
	Attire and Instruments
	The Ceremony
	Full of Symbolism

The attire of the Mevlevi dervishes who take part in the ceremony consists of a cloak called CUBBE and a long white robe called TENNURE which is worn over a short tight-fitting jacket, open in front. Their cylindrical, conical shaped hat is called SIKKE. Their leaders, or high ranking dervishes, have a turban around it called DESTAR; around the SIKKE their girdles are known as. ELIFLAMENT. The area in which the ceremony is performed, SEMAHANE or the ritual dancing hall, is usually octagonal in form: At the opposite end of the entrance is the mihrab, a niche in the wall indicating the kibla, the direction of Mecca which Moslems face when they pray, symbolising the orientation of the body, the mind and the heart towards God, in short, the direction of prayer: The minbar, is in mosques, is a movable stairs and pulpit from which the priest preaches.

In front of and near the mihrab a red-dyed sheepskin mat called POST is placed. This is the appointed seat where the leader or Sheikh of the order sits. The red colour symbolises the colour of the sky at sunset, to honour Shamsu-I Din of Tabriz, who represents the sun, and also Mevlana's death, and is the colour of union and ceremony.

Opposite the mihrab the musical performers are seated. The orchestra consists of the NEY (the reed pipe), the KUDUM (a small double kettledrum with the copper cup covered in camel or sheepskin, and played with a pair of sticks called ZAHME. The players sit on the floor, and place this double-drum, which makes different sounds, in front of their knees. Another instrument is the REBAB (rebeck), originally a Turkish instrument called Iklig: a stringed interment somewhat like a fiddle. Occasionally there is KANUN (a zither-like instrument with 72 strings), the TAMBUR, a kind of lute and the UT, again a lute-like instrument.

The are is divided into two symmetrical halves by an imaginary line called hatt-i istiva, meaning equator, starting from the post and extending to the entrance. This line must never be stepped on by the dervishes. The equator is the shortest path to reality and unity of God.

 

The Ceremony