MAKKAH: The Kiswah, the black embroidered covering of the Holy Kaaba, was replaced in a spiritually significant annual ceremony at Masjid al-Haram as the new Islamic Hijri year began in Saudi Arabia.
According to media reports, the replacement process involved the careful removal of the old Kiswah followed by the installation of the new covering, produced by the King Abdulaziz Complex for the Holy Kaaba Kiswah.
The ceremonial operation was carried out by skilled Saudi craftsmen and technical teams from the Grand Mosque administration, with nearly 250 specialists participating in the process. The Kiswah was transported from the Kiswah factory in a coordinated convoy before being installed on the Holy Kaaba.
The process begins with the systematic removal of the existing covering, including delicately detaching Quranic inscriptions embroidered with gold and silver threads. The door curtain of the Kaaba, measuring approximately 6.35 meters in length and 3.33 meters in width, is also carefully removed during the procedure.
According to the officials, the making of the Kiswah is associated with an intensive process that uses many materials, which include about 825kg of natural silk, 120kg of gold-coated silver thread, 60kg of silver, and 410kg of natural cotton.
In terms of construction, the cloth is made up of 47 panels and takes almost 11 months to be completed by 150 Saudi craftsmen. In addition, the cloth has verses from the Holy Quran that are stitched on it using silver threads coated with 24 carat gold coating. The total weight of the Kiswah is approximately 1,410kg.
The yearly replacing of the Kiswah has been considered one of the most important rituals in the Muslim world, especially during the beginning of each Hijri calendar year.
