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KONYA
MEVLANA
Theologian and poet (b. 30 September
1207, Belh – d. 17 December 1273,
Konya). The name Mevlânâ means “our
master and president” and implies
the love of people for him. The name
Rûmî (pertaining to Anatolia) was
given to him as he lived in Konya.
His father Muhammed Bahaeddin Veled
(1191 -1231), the scholar and
theologian who was known as
Sultanu'l Ulema (Sultan of Scholars)
migrated to Anatolia via Damascus
and Hejaz because of the Mogul
invasion. After living in Malatya,
Erzincan, Akşehir and Larende
(Karaman) for a while, he settled in
Konya (1229). Bahaeddin Veled was
welcomed with respect by the Seljuk
Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat and here he
preached and guided people for two
years. The young scholar Celâleddin,
who took his father’s place after
his death (1231), tried to help the
people of Konya through guidance and
to improve his knowledge, which he
had acquired in Belh and Damascus.
He attended the lectures on
theosophy given by Seyyid
Burhaneddin, the successor to his
father who arrived in Konya one year
after his father’s death and, it is
said, by Sadreddin Konevî. He went
to Damascus and Aleppo to further
improve his knowledge and met Şemsi
Tebrizî (Şemseddin Muhammed Tebrizî).
On his return to Konya, he continued
preaching at mosques and giving
lectures at Medreses (theological
schools).
Şemsi Tebrizî’s visit to Konya
(1244) was a turning point in
Mevlânâ’s life. He established a
close relationship with Şems, whom
he loved and respected deeply. He
spent all his time in discussion
with Şems and cancelled all his
lectures and sermons in order to
learn more about theosophy. Şems
suddenly disappeared when people
began to envy his attachment to
Mevlana and spread rumours about him
(1246). However, his departure upset
Mevlânâ deeply and he completely
isolated himself into an inner world.
He began to write his poems during
this period. He heard that Şems was
in Damascus and sent his son, Sultan
Veled, to persuade him to come back
to Konya. Şems returned to Konya
upon the request of Mevlânâ. However
people were again jealous of him and
Şems left Konya, never to return
(1247). It is said that, he was
later killed by a group led by
Alaeddin Çelebi, the son of Mevlânâ,
and this was kept secret from
Mevlânâ. Losing Şems again caused
Mevlânâ great suffering. He went to
Damascus twice in order to find him
and came back to Konya with nothing.
He appointed Selahaddin Zerkûb, a
jeweler among his followers, as his
successor (1254). Upon hearing that
some of the people of Konya wanted
to kill him, Selahaddin Zerkûb once
said: “My life is in the hands of
God; how can a man kill me?” When
Zerkûb died (1263), Çelebi
Hüsameddin became Mevlânâ’s caliph
during his last years.
The principles of the Mevlevi order
were determined within a system by
his son, Sultan Veled. One of the
proud men of reason and literature
in Turkish history and one of the
greatest poets and intellectuals in
the world, Mevlânâ Celâleddin Rûmî
is commemorated at a ceremony held
in Konya in December every year. The
works of Mevlânâ Celâleddin Rûmî,
which include bilingual poems in
Turkish and Persian, are each a
classic of Eastern Islam and most of
them are in Persian, as it was the
literary language of the time. All
of his works have been translated
into Turkish by Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı.
Most of his works, particularly his
Mesnevi* and Divan*, have been
translated into many languages
around the world.
Mevlana Museum
Mevlana Dergahı (Dervish
Lodge) which is presently used as a
museum formerly the Rose Garden of
the Seljuks Palace. It was given as
a gift to Mevlana's father Sultanü'l-Ulema
Bahaaeddin Veled by Sultan Alaeddin
Keykubat.
When Sultanü'l-Ulema died on 12
January 1231, he was buried in the
present grave which is in the
mausoleum. This was the first burial
ever to take place in the Rose
Garden.
After the death of Sultanü'l-Ulema,
his friends and disciples approached
Mevlana and expressed their wish to
build a maussoleum over his grave.
Mevlana refused this request
remarking "How could there be a
better mausoleum than the sky itself?).
However, when he died on 17
December 1273, his son Sultan Veled
accepted the request of those who
wanted to build a mausoleum over
Mevlana's grave.The mausoleum called
"Kubbe-i Hadra" (Green mausoleum)
was built by the architect Bedrettin
from Tebriz for 130.000 Seljuk
dirhem (currency) on four elephant
feet (thick columns). After this
date, the construction activities
never ceased and continued in stages
up to the end of the 19th century.
Mevlevi Dergahı (Dervish Lodge) and
the mausoleum started to function as
a museum in 1926 under the name of
Konya Museum of Historical Works. In
1954 the display pattern of the
museum was once more taken up and it
was renamed as the Mevlevi Museum.
While the Museum originally covered
an area of 6.500m² together with its
garden, with the section
expropriated later and designed as a
rose garden, it has today reached a
size of 18.000m² .
The courtyard of the museum is
entered from "Dervişan Kapısı" (The
gate of the Dervishes). There are
dervish cells along the north and
west sides of the courtyard. The
south side, after Matbah and Hürrem
Pasha Mausoleums, terminates with
the gate of Hamuşan (Sealed Lips)
which opens to Üçler cemetery. On
the eastern side of the courtyard
there are mausoleums of Sinan Pasha,
Fatma Hatun and Hasan Pasha, the
Semahane (Ritual Prayer Hall) next
to them and the small mosque (mesjid)
section and the main building where
the graves of Mevlana and his family
members are also housed.
The courtyard is
given a special flavor with the
roofed washing fountain (şadırvan)
built by Sultan Yavuz Sultan Selim
in 1512 and the "Şeb-i Arus" (means
nuptial night or the night Mevlana
passed away) pool and the fountain
which is located in the northern
part of the court and called
Selsebil.
"Tilavet" Chamber (Koran Reading
and Chanting)
"Tilavet" is an Arabic word
which means reading the Koran with a
beautiful voice and the correct
rhythm. The room takes its name from
its function in the past. At present
it is used as the Calligraphy
Department.
The calligraphy section contains the
framed works of famous calligraphers
of their time such as Mahmud
Celaleddin, Mustafa Rakım, Hulusi,
Yesarizade as well as a gilt relief
frame done by Sultan Mahmut II. The
couplet in Farsi engraved on the
silver door with the calligraphy of
Yesarizade Mustafa İzzet Efendi says:
Kabetü'l-uşşâk bâşed in mekam
Her ki nakıs amed incâ şod temam
(Let this be the Kaaba of the
minstrels. Who ever enters here in
half, finds himself whole)
Huzur-ı Pir (Mausoleum)
The hall of the mausoleum is entered
from a silver door which was donated
in 1599 by Hasan Pasha, who is the
son of Sokollu Mehmet Pasha. Here,
the oldest copies of the famous
works of Mevlana the "Mesnevi" and
"Divan-ı Kebir" are displayed in two
glass fronted cabinets. The
mausoleum hall is roofed with three
small domes. The third dome which is
also called the skin dome joins, the
green dome in the north.
The hall is bordered with a platform
on its east, south and north sides.
In the north where there is a two
level platform, the sarcophagi of 6
Sacred horasan men are placed. Right
at the feet of these, the Target
Stone, made for İlhanlı King Ebu
said Bahadır Khan.
There are also two
framed inscriptions which are
important as they reflect the
thoughts and philosophy of Mevlana.
The first frame is in Turkish and
says:
"Either
seem as you are
Or be as you seem" (Hz. Mevlana)
Second frame is a
quatrain of Mevlana in Persian. In
translation it reads:
"Come, Come who or
whatever you are
Should you be an unbeliever, a
Magian or a pagan still come
Our lodge is not a lodge of despair
With hundred repentances unheeded
you may be, still, come"
(Hz. Mevlana )
On the high platform
bordering the mausoleum hall on the
east and south there are 55 graves,
ten of which belong to ladies and
the whole group belongs to the
family members of Mevlana, and his
father. There are ten other graves
which belong to people such as
Hüsameddin Çelebi, Selahaddin
Zerkubi and Sheyh Kerimüddin who had
reached high ranks in the sect of
Mevlevi.
Right under the Green Dome there are
the graves of Mevlana and his son
Sultan Veled. The double hunched
marble sarcophagus over the graves
was donated in 1565 by Süleyman the
Magnificent. The quilt embroidered
with gold thread placed over the
sarcophagus is a Seljuk masterpiece
and was made for Mevlana in 1274.
When Süleyman the Magnificent had a
new marble sarcophagus made over the
graves of Mevlana and son, the
original wood one was removed and
put over the grave of Mevlana's
father.
Semahane (Ritual Hall)
The Semahane section together with
the small mosque was built by
Süleyman the Magnificent in the 16th
century. Sema ceremonies were
continued at this ritual hall until
1926, when the Dergah (Dervish lodge)
was converted to a museum. The Naat
Pew in the Hall, the place where the
musicians set (Mutrib cells) and the
sections for men and women are
preserved in their original state,
while metal and glass objects and
musical instruments of the Mevlevi
are displayed in glassed cabinets
and rugs of historical value are
hung on appropriate walls of the
Semahane.
Mosque
The
small mosque or the mesjid is
entered from the Çerağ (apprentice)
Gate. There are additional small
entrances from the Semahane and the
Huzur - Pir, the cemetery. The
place for the müezzin and the
Mesnevihan Pew are kept in their
original state.
Extremely valuable rug and wooden
door samples are displayed on the
south wall of the mosque and in 10
glassed cabinets put around this
space, significant examples of
binding, calligraphy and gilding are
exhibited.
Rug and Fabric Section - Dervish
Cells
There are 17 small cells, each
with a small dome and chimney around
the west and north sides of the
front court of the Mevlana Lodge.
These cells were built in 1584 by
Sultan Murat III to house the
dervishes.
Four cells to the right of the
entrance gate are at present used as
a ticket window and administration
offices. The first two of the 13
cells to the left of the gate used
as "Postnişin" and "Mesnevi-han"
cells are kept in their original
form and presented to the public.
The last two cells at the end are
allocated to the very valuable book
collections donated by Abdülbaki
Gölpınarlı and Dr. Mehmed Önder, and
they are used as a library.
The partition walls of the remaining
9 cells were removed providing two
interconnected large corridors. In
one of these corridors old rugs of
historical value from regions famous
for their rugs such as Kula, Gördes,
Uşak and Kırşehir are displayed
while the other has old rugs from
districts of Konya such as Ladik,
Karaman, Karapınar and Sille which
are centres of rug weaving. Display
windows built in the window and door
sills of these cells display
artefacts of Mevlevi ethnography
such as "Pazarcı maşası", "Mütteka",
"Nefir" which were transferred to
the museum from the Lodge, and the
extremely valuable Bursa fabrics
from the museum collection
Matbah (Kitchen) Section
The kitchen is on the south west
corner of the museum. It was built
by Sultan Murat II in 1548. Until
the lodge was converted to a museum
in 1926 the meals were being
provided from here.
This section was restored in 1990
and the display was rearranged with
mannequins. Cooking, the basic
function of the kitchen and the
"somat" the special table routine is
demonstrated with mannequins.
Another such illustration was
attempted, to show the other
function of the kitchen which is
related to the initiations of the
novice, called "Nev-ni-yaz", and
involves practice of Sema.
Mevlana Mausoleum
It is within the Mevlevi Convent at
Konya. The first convent was built
by Bedreddin from Tabriz in 1274. It
has been expanded and restored to
gain the form we have at present.
The mausoleum rests of four pillars
and is 25 m. high. The body of the
mausoleum is observed to be in the
form of a 16 foil cylinder and 16
foil conical caps. The body and cap
are covered with turquoise tiles.
For this reason the dome is referred
to as the "Green Dome". The
mausoleum contains 65 groves of
various relatives and flowers of
Mevlana together with himself. The
pencil works of the mausoleum are
also of great valve.
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