RIYADH: Ahead of this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, officials in Makkah raised the lower portion of the kiswa, the intricately patterned black cloth that covers the Kaaba, on Wednesday in accordance with the yearly custom.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, the exposed portion was covered with a white cotton cloth that measured 2.5 metres in width and 54 metres in length on all four sides, as authorised by the General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques. Ten cranes and thirty-six specialized technical personnel carried out the procedure.
The SPA report explains that the kiswa is lifted in phases: The process begins with removing the corners and unscrewing the bottom of the cover. Next, the bottom rope is untied and removed from the fixing rings, and the cloth is rolled upward. After the white cloth is placed and the lanterns are disassembled, the lanterns are reinstalled over the white cloth until the last step.
The process of preventing the kiswa from becoming dirty or damaged during pilgrims’ circumambulation of the Kaaba is repeated annually.
With 3.16 million pilgrims attending the Hajj each year in Saudi Arabia, it is regarded as the most significant human gathering in history.
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