MAKKAH: Acting on behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz, deputy governor of the Makkah Region and deputy chairman of the Permanent Committee for Hajj and Umrah, delivered the kiswa of the Kabaa to the gatekeeper of the holy site on Friday.
The handover was signed off by Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, who is also the chairman of the board of the General Authority for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, and the deputy chief gatekeeper Abdul Malik bin Taha Al-Shaibi.
The Kaaba will be adorned with its new kiswa on Muharram 1, the start of the new Islamic year, after the authority finished weaving this year’s new covering — made of natural silk dyed black — at the King Abdulaziz Complex for the Kiswa of the Holy Kaaba.
The kiswa stands 14 meters tall, with a belt 95 centimeters wide and 47 meters long sweeping across its upper third, and is composed of 16 panels set within Islamic ornamentation.
The handover ceremony is a testament to the care the Saudi leadership devotes to the Holy Kaaba, and to its attention to every stage of producing and replacing the kiswa to the highest standards of precision and craftsmanship.
