KONYA, Turkey - The tall light brown hats worn by whirling dervishes are as intriguing as the elliptical dance performed in honour of the Sufi poet and mystic Rumi. In Konya, a sprawling city in Turkey's central Anatolian plain where Rumi spent most of his life and died 750 years ago, one of the last workshops makes these special "sikke" hats to order. Yunus Girgic refuses to sell sikkes to tourists because they are exclusively reserved for real dervish dancers. The manufacturing secrets of these deeply symbolic felt hats — each one 26 to 27 centimetres tall — have been passed down for four generations to Girgic. The material, relatively heavy and itchy on the forehead, is a "reminder of the discomforts of life on Earth", Girgic said.

Source: Bangkok Post December 19, 2023 17:39 UTC