Konya is a big city; the biggest in Turkey in terms of land area. Interestingly, this city was in the middle of the vast land of Turkey. In the middle of nowhere, literally speaking. The best place to be in solitude and isolate oneself from the world. The very essence of sufism. So Konya grew from there and produced one of the well known sufi scholar, Jalaluddin arRumi. His tomb was well preserved and his death was ritually celebrated. The musoleom dedicated to him is Mevlana Museum right in the center of Konya.
The famous sufi dance —- darwish whirl (sema) is performed at the museum on every Friday night. The dance is a form of zikr ritual and is based on an interpretation of the verses of the Quran about how one can remember Allah.
I am not a “cemetery guy” but today I ended up at a Turkish cemetery and musoleum before checking out from the hotel.
We spent the whole morning yesterday trying to get Konya card for public transport going around the city. The gates wouldn’t take our cards so we were stuck. The guard told us to buy at the kiosk but no one manned it and the sign left said to use the machine. The machine was in Turkish only so we were stuck again. Went back to the tram guard and he let us in without ticket. At the other end the same thing happened and we asked the guard and he let us pass again without the ticket. I tried to pay the guard for his kindness but he immediately pulled a NO!-NO! face. Maybe he thought that as a bribe so noway. I was startled to see a strong integrity shown by him. He could have taken the money and be done with. But he refused which showed the character of a good muslim prevailed in his action. I took a glimpse of his old frailed face and silently praised him. What a good man! I was ashamed to see him as someone needed the money.
Had a good lunch near the otogar mosque.
We went back and bought the card at the kiosk with the help from an Indonesian student. Finally. So we were good to move around.
After a good nap (uncle must take afternoon nap to function hahahah), we headed out to Alaaddin Mosque. Well preserved mosque that still function for daily use. The interior, like other mosques in Turkey , never failed to amaze me. It was located on the top of a hill surrounded by beautiful beds of roses. We stayed on for the sunset.
