On Sunday, the first day of the Islamic new year (1 Muharram, 1446h), a new Kiswa was installed at the holy Kaaba in Makkah, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency. The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque oversaw the installation of this intricately designed black cloth cover, which was brought by a team from the King Abdulaziz Complex for the Kiswa of the Kaaba. This team, consisting of 159 skilled craftsmen, was supervised by engineers and technicians specially trained for this complex process.
The SPA detailed the procedure, explaining that the team first removed the gold-embroidered pieces from the old Kiswa while the new one was transported to the Grand Mosque. The new Kiswa includes 53 gold-embroidered pieces, distributed across various parts of the Kaaba, including the belt area, under the belt, corner pieces, lanterns, the door curtain, Al-Rukn Al-Yamani, and the Black Stone outline, along with the gutter.
The installation process, which involves up to 200 skilled technicians and craftsmen, typically takes a few hours to complete. The operational staff at the complex are responsible for producing 56 gold-embroidered pieces for the Kaaba's Kiswa, with each piece taking between 60 and 120 days to complete by hand. The Kiswa, which weighs 1,350kg and measures 14 meters high, uses a total of 120kg of gold, 100kg of silver, and 1,000kg of silk, and is adorned with black thread inscriptions.
For the first time, female employees of the General Presidency participated in the Kiswa replacement ceremony, as noted on X. The Kiswa is composed of four separate sides and a door curtain, and is richly decorated from the outside.
