New Kiswa drapes Holy Kaaba as Islamic New Year begins
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The annual ceremony to replace the Kiswa, the black silk cloth covering the Holy Kaaba, was completed early Thursday morning at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The new Kiswa was installed ahead of the start of the Islamic year 1447.
The process began on Wednesday evening and was carried out by the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, in coordination with the King Abdulaziz Complex for the Holy Kaaba Kiswa.
A team of 154 Saudi craftsmen oversaw the replacement. The new Kiswa consists of 47 panels made from 825 kilograms of black-dyed silk. It is embroidered with 68 Qur’anic verses using 120 kilograms of gold-plated silver thread and 60 kilograms of pure silver. The total weight of the Kiswa is around 1,415 kilograms.
The ceremony started with the removal of the old Kiswa and the curtain of the Kaaba door. The new cloth was then draped and fixed in place. The gold-embroidered curtain alone measures 6.35 meters in length and 3.33 meters in width.
The new Kiswa was formally handed over on June 8 by Deputy Emir of Makkah, Prince Saud bin Mishaal, to Abdul Malik bin Taha Al-Shaibi, the senior keeper of the Grand Mosque.
The Kiswa is replaced every year on the eve of the new Hijri year, continuing a tradition that has been observed for more than a century.