Annual Ceremony Marks Changing of Kaaba's Kiswa on Wednesday

On the first day of Muharram on Wednesday or 1445 Hijri in the Islamic calendar, the cover of the Kaaba was changed at an elaborate annual ceremony.

130 technicians and manufacturers were involved in the ten-step intricate process of replacing the old cloth with a new handcrafted Kiswa (as the fabric is known in Arabic), according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Raw silk, 120 kilos of gold wires, and 100 kilograms of silver wires are used to create the cloth that covers the Kaaba. The largest sewing machine in the world was used to meticulously process the raw materials on an assembly line.

Verses from the Quran were hand-embroidered in gold wires on various portions of the black-dyed silk fabric.

El Ekhbariya stated that a professional staff oversaw the entire process of replacing the Kiswa, which is made up of 56 sections that are individually embroidered in gold and take 60 to 120 days to complete.