Mevlevi

The Mawlaw'īyya or Mevlevi Order (Turkish: Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; Persian: طریقت مولویه‎) is a Sufi order in Konya (modern day Turkey) (capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate) founded by the followers of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic theologian and Sufi mystic. The Mevlevi are also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; the whirling is part of the formal Sama ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazen-s.In 2008, UNESCO confirmed "The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony" as amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.