Witness whirling sufi dervishes

THINGS TO DO, CAIRO Updated : Jun 5, 2016, 12.22 PM IST

Priti Zararia

Priti Zararia is a traveller, explorer, travel writer and a photographer. She has lived and traveled around Europe extensively. She has delved into diverse historical and cultural experiences across Western, Central, Eastern Europe and Asia. Besides the usual ‘things to do’ her guides feature must-try food & wines, must watch musicals and hike to offbeat places around popular destinations. She has traveled to over 30 countries and dreams of traveling to each and every country across the globe. Other than writing for Happytrips, she posts exclusive travel stories on her travel blog https://ilovetripping.com/.

Now this could be an icing on the cake! The sufi dance is performed by Al-Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe. This is the only Sufi dance troupe in Egypt and the show is truly mesmerising. It is characterised by men in colourful flowy costumes, whirling on the tunes of soulful sufi songs and traditional Arabic music. This is not a dance but a Sufi ritual of meditation. The performers appear to be almost in trance while whirling non-stop for almost an hour. The show is held on a regular basis in an old caravanserai known as Wikala of Al-Ghouri. It is located close to the Khan El-Khalili in Islamic Cairo. The setting of an ancient caravanserai adds to the charm of the show. This stunning Sufi performance comes for free; all you need to do is to wait in the queue at the venue. The idea is to get there early to grab better seats as it is on first come first serve basis. If you have a chance to watch whirling dervishes at Wekala Sultan Al Ghouri, do not miss it at any cost!
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