Welcome to Ramadan festival in Kayseri, Turkey

Yesterday, me and Miriam, along with the other volunteers from IYACA, were at the “Welcome to Ramadan” festival (ŞEHR-İ RAMAZAN), which was held in Mimar Sinan Park.

The park was named after Koca Mi’mâr Sinân Âğâ, who was the chief Ottoman architect and civil engineer for Sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III.

We drink a cup of a traditional beverage, called üzüm suyu (grape juice), which was offered free by the city hall.

I also wanted to try another traditional Turkish dessert, like lokma (sweet, fried dough), which was delicious… and really sweet. I think this is what accelerated my weight gain, but then, about 2 years later I managed to lose 16 kg in 8 months.

There were a lot of craftsman demonstrating their crafts. Perfume shops, special writing craft and a lot of decoration objects.

The most interesting attraction was the traditional Turkish painting technique of ebru. The craftsman gave us a special demonstration and even let us draw a model of the painting.

It was a really interesting experience for me because I’ve never seen this particular technique of painting.

After we went home to change our clothes because it started to feel a little cold, we watched the traditional sema dance (Whirling dervish ceremony) performed on the stage from the Mimar Sinan Park.

The origin of the spinning ritual (or sema) is attributed to a widely revered holy man called Rumi, more popularly known as Mevlâna, meaning Our Guide or Sainted One.

A devoted but not orthodox Muslim, Rumi preached inclusivity, tolerance, love, and respect for all, regardless of their religion.

I believe that, ultimately, going to a cultural and religious celebration such as this particular situation is what differentiates a traveler from someone who just wants to go on holiday.

Here is a part of last night’s show (I ran out of battery before the dance finished, unfortunately, but the dance ended a couple of minutes after I stopped recording) :