Turkey | Istanbul | Suleimaniye Mosque

During 2009 I wandered by the Suleimaniye Mosque in Istanbul. As you no doubt know the Suleimaniye Mosque was built by Sulieman The Magnificent (r. 1520-66), arguably the greatest of the Ottoman Sultans.

View of Suleimaniye Mosque (upper left) from near the Galata Bridge

View from the Golden Horn

Suleiman the Magnificent

Take a Take a Walking Tour of the Mosque

The Mosque was designed by Sinan (Ottoman Turkish: قوجو معمار سنان آغا), the greatest architect of Ottoman Turkey.

I have added this book to my Scriptorium and can recommend it most highly. By all means travel to Turkey yourself to see Sinan’s works, but if for some reason you cannot the breath-takingly luscious photos in this book are enough to make most people swoon.

Tomb of Suleiman, next door to the mosque

Suleiman the Magnificent

Tomb of Suleiman

Coffin of Suleiman. Although no longer in power, the Ottoman Family exists to this day.

Graves surrounding the tomb of Sulieiman

The grave sites host heart-stoppingly gorgeous roses

More graves

Graves and Roses

More Graves and Roses

Still more Graves and Roses

Turkey | Silk Road | Chintamani | Carpets

Earlier I speculated on how the Shambhala Mythologem may have Arrived in Istanbul Via the Silk Road. Now the carpet cognoscente at the scintillatingly entertaining and informative Tea and Carpets Blog are pointing out what may be Buddhist influences in Ottoman Court Carpets:

Some of the most striking carpets of the Ottoman era are as white as a painter’s canvas and covered with finely drawn, mysterious icons. The never-changing symbols repeat in array after array, like waves building strength, creating a powerful, mesmerizing effect The mysterious icons are the “chintamani,” three balls hovering over a pair of cloud-like wavy lines. And for much of the 16th and 17th centuries, they held a special fascination for Ottoman court artists.

In carpet literature, the design is often said to derive from a Buddhist emblem. The word chintamani itself comes from Sanskrit and in Buddhist philosophy signifies a treasure ball or wish-granting jewel. A Buddhist background for the design is an appealing argument because it also recalls the distant past of the Turkic tribes who migrated to Anatolia from Central Asia and created the succession of dynasties that culminated in the Ottoman Empire.

A Chintamani Carpet from the Ottoman Era

According to one definition of Chintamani:

Cintamani, also spelled as Chintamani (or the Chintamani Stone), is a wish-fulfilling jewel within both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In Buddhism it is held by the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha. It is also seen carried upon the back of the Lung ta (wind horse). Within Hinduism it is connected with the gods, Vishnu and Ganesha.

The Chintamani Symbol is of course also connected with notorious Shambhalist Nicholas Roerich.

Three circle motif in Roerich’s painting “Oriflamma”

Chintamani motif in Roerich’s painting “Sign of Chintamani”

The connection between the Sufis of Istanbul and Shambhala is still under investigation. In the meantime, since The Ottomans are Back might we soon see a resurgence of Chintamani Carpets?

Turkey | Istanbul | Jahongir Ashurov | More Miniatures

Couldn’t resist adding a couple more miniatures from the Jahongir Ashurov Show now taking place in Istanbul. The first is apparently one of the favorites of Peony, who has a wonderful post up about, among other things, Orhan Pamuk’s novel My Name Is Red, which of course deals with the whole subject of miniatures.
Miniature by Jahongir Ashurov:

Musician

Detail of Musician

The second one I cannot resist because it portrays camels, for which I have a Soft Spot in my heart.

Camels

I ask you, who cannot help but Love Camels?

Turkey | Istanbul | Beyoglu

Not having found any trace of a Portal to Shambhala in the Sultanahmed Area, the old historical core of Istanbul, I decided to check out of my hotel and move over to the Beyoglu District on the other side of the Golden Horn. As I mentioned earlier, the old tekke of the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes is in this area. Gunj, my host in Istanbul, was kind enough to take time off from her incessant labors on the behalf of Central Asian Artists and accompany me. Any journey with Gunj when she has free time entails a lot of stops along the way to smell the roses, or in this case, taste a fish sandwich at the famous water-side outdoor restaurants near the Galata Bridge where the fish are actually cooked on boats tied up alongside the dock.

View from near Galata Bridge

Fish restaurants near the Galata Bridge. Fish are cooked on the boats and served shore side.

Gunj at the Galata Bridge

The Golden Horn with the Süleymaniye Mosque at the upper left

The fish sandwich was just an appetizer. Having crossed the Galata Bridge to Beyoglu we stopped at another one of Gunj’s favorite restaurants, the historic Tarihi Karaköy Balik Loksantasi, for the next course—Fish Soup.

Then we climbed up the steep cobblestone streets of Beyoglu to the Galata Tower . . .

. . . where we had tea and dessert at this charming outdoor cafe.

Finally we arrived the Hotel Londres, Gunj’s favorite hostelry in all of Istanbul. This place is dripping with history. It was founded in 1892, one of the first European-style hotels to service travelers arriving on the Orient Express, the first non-stop version of which reached Istanbul from Paris in June of 1889. Although the hotel has been remodeled several times it still retains a lot of its nineteenth-century features. The doors to the rooms and the locks may well be the originals. Over the years many famous people have frequented the hotel, including Ernest Hemingday and more recently Gunj, who celebrated one of her birthdays here. I half-expect to see Peter Lorre simpering in some dark corner.

Peter Lorre. If he didn’t stay at the Hotel Londres he should have.

Just down the street from the Hotel Londres is the equally famous Pera Palace Hotel, also founded in 1892. According to legend, Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express in Room 411 of the hotel. The room is still available, if you desperately need an Agatha Christie fix.

Lobby of the Hotel Londres

Gunj lighting up the Hotel Londres Lobby with her luminious presence.

Gunj deciding the fate of some hitherto unknown Central Asian artist.

Hemingway no doubt bellied up to this very bar. The bartender may still be contemplating his order.

Staircase in the Hotel leading to the Rooftop Cafe

Gunj relaxing from her otherwise relentless labors at her favorite table in the Rooftop Cafe of the Hotel Londres.

Sunset over the Golden Horn from the rooftop cafe of the Hotel Londres. Along with the Pyramids of Egypt and Zaisan Tolgoi in Ulaan Baatar surely one of the world’s most stunning vistas.

Turkey | Istanbul | Jahongir Ashurov | Miniatures

Finally managed to track down the peripatetic Gunj, who has been busier than a bee in a clover patch organizing an Istanbul show for Bukhara-based Uzbek miniaturist Jahongir Ashurov.

Gunj (right) and Friend

We eventually retired to the Gulluoglu Baklava Shop near the shores of the Bosphorus Strait, which according to Gunj has the best Baklava in Istanbul if not the world. The exhibition, I am informed, will open on November 16, with a reception at 5:00 PM and run through Nov. 26, which means that if you book airplane tickets now you will just be able to make the opening scene, which should be a real lalapalooza. Expect rivers of raki to flow. The show will be at the Yildiz Sarayi, which is an old Ottoman palace at Barbaros Bulvari, Besiktas, in Istanbul. I suggest you stay at the Grand Hotel Londres in Beyoglu, that is if you can get reservations, since the place is usually booked up tighter than a tick in a hound dog’s ear.

Here is a sampling of the miniatures which will be on display, and for sale:

Miniature of famous philosopher and doctor Ibn-i Sina, alias Avicenna (980–1037).

Tears running down Ibn-i Sina’s face. They are both tears of joy because he has just discovered a new medicinal plant and tears of sadness, since he discovered the plant too late to cure the illness from which his son died.

For a good introduction to Ibn-i Sina’s thought see:

For a good biography see:

I have both of these items in my Scriptorium and can recommend them highly if you want to get up to speed on Ibn-i Sina.

Fellow Bibliophile reading a bookDetail of Fellow Bibliophile
Lovely Bibliophile. I don’t doubt that she has a fantastic Scriptorium.
Amir Timur, a.k.a. Tamerlane leading his horse by the Tomb of the saint Turk-i Candi (a.k.a Turki Jandi) in Bukhara. He dismounted to show respect to the saint. By the way, the Saint’s Tomb still exists and can be seen in Bukhara. Don’t miss it the next time you’re in Uzbekistan.

Out of respect for Turk-i Candi Tamerlane also wrapped up the hooves of his horse so they would not make so much noise while he was passing by the tomb.

Lady with Hanky
Detail of Lady with Hanky
Bathing Girl
Detail of Bathing Girl
Peeping Tom watching Bathing Girl
A Naughty Demon trying on the Bathing Beauty’s boots
Faces in Rocks

This is just a brief sampling of the many miniatures which will be on display. Pop over to Istanbul to see more . . .