A decree issued by Atatürk on 6 April 1926 ruled that the mausoleum and the dervish lodge (dergah) must be turned into a museum which duly opened on 2 March 1927.

The dervishes' kitchen (matbah) and the tomb of Hurrem Pasha, built during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, stand on the right side.

The Ritual Hall (Semahane) was built during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent at the same time as the adjoining small mosque.

In this hall the dervishes used to perform the Sema, the ritual whirling dance, performed to the rhythm of musical instruments such as the kemence (a small violin with three strings), the kemane (a larger violin), the halile (a small cymbal), the daire (a kind of tambourine), the kudüm (a drum), the rebab (a guitar) and the ney (flute), once played by Mevlâna himself.

Examples of these instruments are on display in this room, together with an 18th-century Kirşehir prayer rug, dervish clothing (including Mevlâna's) and four crystal-glass mosque lamps (16th century, Egyptian Mameluk period).

Mevlana's sarcophagus is placed under the turquoise dome (Kibab'ulaktab) that is a symbol of the city, with the actual burial chamber beneath it.

On the left side six coffins are lined up in rows of three; they belonged to the dervishes (Horasan erler) who came to Konya with Mevlâna and his family from Belkh.

Opposite them on a raised platform beneath two domes stand cenotaphs belonging to descendants of the Mevlâna family (his wife and children) and some high-ranking members of the Mevlevi order.