KONYA, Turkey (Reuters) - Irina and her friends have no regrets about travelling thousands of kilometres (miles) from their native Latvia to this grey Anatolian town in mid-December. But then they have not come for the weather or the scenery.

They are converts to the mystical Sufi branch of Islam and are among tens of thousands of people converging on Konya for an annual festival marking the death in 1273 of Jalaladdin Mevlana Rumi, poet, guru and founder of Turkey's whirling dervishes.

"We have come to Konya to know ourselves, to understand why we, why all of us, are here in this world," she said as her 30 fellow ethnic Russians nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

They have just taken part in an evening of music, chanting, prayer and "whirling" at a Sufi lodge and their excitement, as they head back to their hotel, chatting in Russian, is palpable.

English, Italian, Dutch, Bulgarian and Farsi are among other languages echoing in the narrow streets around the lodge this frosty night, testifying to the international appeal of Rumi's inclusive brand of Islam.

Rumi's teachings were once considered dangerous. In the 1920s, the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, closed down the Sufi lodges, along with other religious orders which had wielded great influence in the old Ottoman Empire.

But Sufism, which has deep roots in Turkish culture and is essentially apolitical, has staged a steady comeback since the 1950s, not least because of the tourist dollars its most famous adherents, the whirling dervishes, have helped bring to Turkey.

Across town from Irina's lodge, 3,000 people have packed into the huge Mevlana Culture Centre, completed two years ago with government money and resembling a huge sports stadium, for a performance by Turkey's only state-funded troupe of dervishes.

Pious headscarved Turkish matrons clutching rosary beads and Australian backpackers sit side by side watching the 11 male dancers, dressed in white robes and tall conical hats, turning gracefully from right to left, like the planets around the sun.

"The whirling, or 'Sema', is a vehicle to reach God, to reach happiness. It is a kind of therapy that cleanses us of pain and stress," Fahri Ozcakil, the most senior dancer, told Reuters before going on stage for the hour-long performance.

"We don't feel giddy when whirling. We have been trained for it. But we do feel tired afterwards, we are covered in sweat and breathe heavily. We have to be physically fit. Every day we do gymnastic exercises to help prepare us," he said.

An economics graduate and father of three, Ozcakil has been practising Sema for 32 years but he only became a full-time whirling dervish when the government in Ankara set up the troupe in 1991 and started paying them a regular salary.

"We have visited more than 20 countries. Interest in the Mevlana philosophy and culture is definitely increasing worldwide," said the gently-spoken former accountant.

Rumi's poetry has become a surprise bestseller in the United States and Europe over the past decade or so, presenting a picture of Islam as a religion of love and compassion -- an image that is sharply at odds with some of the crude stereotypes sometimes found in Western media.

"We know some people sadly associate Islam with terrorism, but we have never encountered hostility abroad. When people watch us, they think such a culture cannot possibly have any link with terrorism. This makes us very happy," said Ozcakil.

Last month, UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural body, added the whirling dervishes to its list of world heritage treasures -- a move many Turks saw as an overdue mark of recognition for an ancient institution espousing the United Nations' ideals of peace and fraternity.

"Rumi welcomed all men and women, irrespective of religion, race or creed, teaching that God is One," said Omer Faruk Belviranli, an official at Turkey's Culture Ministry who used to sing at performances by dervishes.

The Mevlana Museum in Konya, which houses the tomb of Rumi and other Sufi masters, is Turkey's second most visited museum, after the Topkapi palace of the Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul, and draws two million people a year.

About 35,000 people -- including Erdogan -- will watch performances by the whirling dervishes during the 11-day Konya festival which ends on December 17, the date of Rumi's death which is known as the Sheb-i Arus, or Wedding Night.

"Religion can be a big industry too. Tourists sit in bars in Istanbul drinking beer and watching a whirling dervish perform after paying $20. It is sad to see this happen," said Mehmet Akin, a Konya carpet seller who is also a Sufi follower.

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