(CUL) AMERICANS SHOOT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MEVLANA.

KONYA, Oct 2, 2009 (TUR) -- American Public Television have shot a documentary film about Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi in central province of Konya.

Kell Kearns and Cynthia Lukas from American Public Television were informed about Mevlana and his philosophy by officials at Mevlana Museum.

Kearns told the A.A correspondent on Friday that they attended several events organized in Konya like the 6th International Mystic Music Festival and took footage during those events, museums and other historical sites. The film would be broadcast on TV in the United States, Kearns said.

Mevlana was born on September 30, 1207 in Balkh in present day Afghanistan. He died in Konya on December 17, 1273. He was laid to eternal rest beside his father and over his remains in a splendid shrine that was erected in Konya.

Mevlana devoted himself to the pursuit of Sufi mysticism, in which he was justly regarded as the supreme master. He was the spiritual founder of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes.

"Come, come again, whoever you are, come! Heathen, fire worshipper or idolatrous, come! Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times. Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are," is his famous motto that has been seen as a symbol of tolerance and love for centuries.

The Masnavi or Masnavi-I Ma'navi, written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi is one of the best known and most influential works of both Sufism and Persian literature. Comprising six books of poems that amount to more than 50,000 lines, it pursues its way through 424 stories that illustrate man's predicament in his search for God.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)