Holy Kaaba in Makkah gets new Kiswa

The Kiswa, the cloth covering the Holy Kaaba, was replaced with the new one early Monday in accordance with a tradition carried out every year before the Muslim feast of Eid Al-Adha.

A special team from the general administration of King Abdul Aziz Complex for Holy Kaaba Kiswa performed the task. The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques has also secured all precautionary measures and means of prevention and safety so that this process takes place in the utmost levels of security.

Every year, on the ninth day of the month of Dul Hajjah, the day pilgrims leave for the plains of Mount Arafat during the

Hajj pilgrimage, the Kaaba is draped with a new Kiswa. The old one gets cut into pieces and given to visiting foreign Muslim dignitaries and organizations.

The Kiswa consists of 47 pieces of cloth. Each piece is 14 meters long and 101 centimeters in breadth. The Kiswa is wrapped around the Kaaba and fixed to its base with copper rings. The cost of making the Kiswa is around SR17 million ($4.5 million). The entire cover is 658 square meters in length and is comprised of 670 kg of pure silk, and 150 kg of pure gold and silver in the thread used for the embroidery.