Tomorrow, 8 May, there will be an opening ceremony of the Mevlevi Order (Sufi) tekke (or khanqah) which was rebuilt with the financial aid of the Turkish municipality Selçuk via the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) ,reports Fena.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu, president of TIKA Serdar Çam will attend the opening ceremony.
First tekke was built in 1462 in Bendbaša, and later in 1697 it was destroyed and rebuilt again in 1781. In 1957 the tekke was once again destroyed.
Tekke or khanaqah is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood, or tariqa, and is a place for spiritual retreat and character reformation. In the past, and to a lesser extent nowadays, they often served as hospices for Sufi travelers (salik) and Islamic students (talib).
The Mevlevi Order, is a Sufi order founded in Konya (in the Ottoman Empire) by the followers of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. They are also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God).
Mevlevi order tekke was rebuilt below Žuta Tabija.
(photo: trekearth)