Kiswah is the cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is draped annually on the 9th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, the day pilgrims leave for the plains of Mount Arafat during the Hajj.[1] The term kiswah is Arabic for 'pall' (viz., the cloth that is draped over a casket) and is a cognate of the Hebrew word kisui.
Kiswa Factory
Current: Every year the old Kiswa is removed, cut into small pieces and gifted to certain individuals, visiting foreign Muslim dignitaries and organizations. Some of them sell their share as souvenirs of the Hajj. In earlier times, Umar bin al-Khattabwould cut it into pieces and distribute them among pilgrims who used them as shelter from the heat of Mecca. The present cost of making the kiswa amounts to SR 17,000,000. The cover is 658m2 and is made of 670kg of silk. The embroidery contains 15kg of gold threads. It consists of 47 pieces of cloth and each piece is 14m long and 101cm wide. The kiswa is wrapped around the Kaaba and fixed to the ground with copper rings. The manually designed embroidery of the Quranic verses are slowly being aided by computers, thus increasing the speed of finishing.[2]
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