MAKKAH: The cover of the Holy Kaaba was changed on Wednesday during an intricate annual ceremony.
The day coincides with the first day of the month of Muharram, 1445 Hijri in the Islamic calendar.
The ten-step elaborate process of replacing the old cloth with a new handmade Kiswa (as the fabric is called in Arabic) involved 130 technicians and manufacturers.
The cloth which covers the Kaaba is made from raw silk, 120 kilograms of gold wires and 100 kilograms of silver wires.
The raw materials were carefully processed in an assembly line with the world’s largest sewing machine. Sections of the black-dyed silk cloth were hand-embroidered in gold wires with verses from the Quran.
A specialized team supervised the entire process of replacing the Kiswa, which is in 56 gold-embroidered pieces that each take 60-120 days to complete, local media reported.
