KONYA (Turkey), Dec 24 — The tall mild brown hats worn by whirling dervishes are as intriguing because the elliptical dance carried out in honour of the Sufi poet and mystic Rumi.
In Konya, a sprawling metropolis in Turkey’s central Anatolian plain the place Rumi spent most of his life and died 750 years in the past, one of the final workshops makes these particular “sikke” hats to order.
Yunus Girgic refuses to promote sikkes to vacationers as a result of they’re solely reserved for actual dervish dancers.
And he makes positive they don’t attain amateurs’ arms, quizzing potential shoppers about their motives for wanting the distinctive hat.
“I ask just a few fundamental questions and instantly see who I’m coping with,” Girgic advised eNM.
At the beginning of the “sema” dance ritual, dervishes take off their lengthy black coats however retain the sikke, which signifies the tombstone — the tip of life on Earth when the dancer meets God.
The manufacturing secrets and techniques of these deeply symbolic felt hats — each 26 to 27 centimetres (about 10 inches) tall — have been handed down for 4 generations to Girgic.
Each one is produced from a kilo (half a pound) of goat or sheep wool, which is patiently stretched, dipped a number of instances in soapy water after which rolled flat, like pie crust.
This centuries-old felting approach permits the fibres to be tightened and strengthened, mentioned Girgic, who works with two apprentices.
The ensuing sq. of wool — now decreased to 350 grams — is moulded onto picket shapes whose measurement is adjusted to the shopper’s head measurement, and left to dry for as much as two days.
The materials, comparatively heavy and itchy on the brow, is a “reminder of the discomforts of life on Earth”, Girgic mentioned.
His workshop produces “80 per cent of the sikkes on the earth”, the artisan added.
Musician Ashmi Benmehidi comes to gather his first sikke and tries it on with pleasure.
Yunus Girgic adjusts as he delivers a symbolic hat ‘Sikke’, worn by whirling dervishes, to his buyer Ashmi Benmehidi. — eNM pic
He left an insurance coverage job in Montpellier within the south of France to practise the artwork of enjoying the “ney” — a reed flute which accompanies the sema ritual.
“I’ve simply been invited to play in a devoted group,” he mentioned, adjusting his headdress.
“I’m very moved,” he added.
Girgic’s workshop produces 30 to 80 sikkes a yr. Each one sells for two,000 liras (virtually US$70) and is designed to final round 45 years. — eNM
