Fri 10 Dec

Every Friday afternoon, a few hours before the sun sets the Sufis of Omdurman congregate in a cemetery on the far side of town, around the tomb of Hamid El Nil. These holy people chant and beat their drums and parade about attracting an "audience" of regular locals and camera laden westerners.

In a dusty clearing, about 25m across, the Sufis get into a worshipful rhythm. It gradually and subtly gets faster and faster, whipping the devout into frenzy. Also moving around the clearing are ragamuffin "monks", Muslim men who spin themselves around, occasionally kneeling or even prostrating in the dust. They are concentrating on their inner self and apparently go into a trance. This detachment from the physical world gets them closer to their God. These are the Whirling Dervishes.

It seemed to me that the tourism aspect was quite intrusive; worse than I remember a year ago from my first visit. This time I noticed a well dressed African with his video camera walking around within the clearing, and others let their cute "Sunday-best" dressed kids join in with the dancing. However, these guys did not seem to mind, I think they kind of like the idea that the world has come to watch.

To see some movie clips of the Whirling Dervishes click on any of these links. Beware, these files could take a while to download if you are on a slow connection.

http://www.peterbennett.co.uk/herononthenile/gallery/clips/Sufi-festival_4560_0412101808_Omdurman_Hamid_Nil_Dervishes.MPG (4MB)

http://www.peterbennett.co.uk/herononthenile/gallery/clips/Sufi-festival_4590_0412101815_Omdurman_Hamid_Nil_Dervishes.MPG (9MB)