Muslim Mevlevi Order founded by Rumi is the one that made whirling dervishes popular across the world. Since then, it has been artistically represented in cinema and other forms of artworks. A group of 40 ‘turners’ offering their whirl as a marker of their devotion. Wherever they ‘turn’, they hang a curtain depicting the sun on one wall. as a memorial to Rumi’s Sufi teacher and friend, Shams whose name meant ‘sun’ in Persian. The whirl is anti-clockwise with right palm raised upwards to receive God’s grace and the left downward to bring the same grace to Earth. It is as if the dervishes themselves become a conduit of the light. An interesting aspect of the same is that there are four rounds of turning and in the last one, even God whirls. Music becomes the pathway and dance a doorway – A call to the Divine that reaches where it was meant to reach.
Rumi described the ‘turning’ in his words as- ‘He is the outward. He is the inward. I know none other.’ While the dervish remains centred, his body revolves. This can also be interpreted as– The more rooted you are in your being, the more easily you can flow. Music becomes a road to merge and dance no longer remains merely a dance, but a dissolution.
Kathputli derived from “kath,” meaning wood, and “putli,” meaning doll is believed to have originated in a tribal Bhat community. Shrimad Bhagavata Purana compares the Almighty God to a master puppeteer (Sutradhar). Human beings are viewed as lifeless wooden dolls (Kathputlis) animated entirely by the divine. God manipulates all worldly beings using three cosmic strings or cosmic qualities (Gunas)- Sattva (purity/goodness), Rajas (passion/activity), and Tamas (ignorance/inertia).
The nomadic Bhat and Nat tribes trace the creation of the first puppet back to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. According to the myth, Lord Shiva breathed life into a wooden doll to amuse Parvati while she felt lonely on Mount Kailash. When the doll was left lifeless again, the first human artisan tied strings to its limbs to replicate that divine movement. Therefore puppets began to be seen as vessels of Devi. In traditional Indian theatre, the narrator or storyteller is called a Sutradhar, which means “the one who holds the strings.” This term reflects the idea that the storyteller guides and controls the flow of the story, similar to how a puppeteer controls puppets.
Baba Bulleh Shah, a Sufi saint had compared the human body as clay i.e. Mitti da Kalbut that the divine has temporarily inhabited. In his famous kafi, ‘Maati’, he uses the metaphor of maati (dust) to emphasize human mortality, the illusion of ego, and the transient nature of worldly power, status, and conflict. Christian scriptures too uses the analogy of “potter and clay” where God is the Master Potter and humanity is the clay. The image illustrates God’s sovereign authority to create, shape, reshape, or transform human lives.
All of the above are extremely beautiful analogies that can act as useful and timely reminders. At times life will not go as we have planned it to go. Sometimes the Divine seeks to use you in a capacity He desires to use you. In such times, it is best to allow Him to mould you as per His will. This calls for surrender in both good and bad times. It is only then that one becomes truly available to Divine grace.
Love and light
Yasmin
