MAKKAH (Kashmir English): The spiritual and blessed ceremony of changing the Kaaba’s shroud (Kiswa) will be held today in the Grand Mosque at the beginning of the Islamic year, for which preparations have been completed.
According to the Arab News Agency, this sacred duty will be performed on behalf of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz under the leadership of the Governor of Makkah, in which the imams of the Grand Mosque, experts from the Kiswah Factory, high-ranking officials and a special team will participate.
The process of preparing the new Kaaba’s shroud was completed by more than two hundred skilled craftsmen at the King Abdulaziz Complex for Kiswah Kaaba after 11 months of hard work.
The shroud, weighing a total of 1,415 kilograms, is embroidered with Quranic verses using threads made of 1,000 kilograms of pure silk, 120 kilograms of gold, and 100 kilograms of silver. The new shroud consists of four large pieces and 47 medium and small parts.
The ceremony will begin with the careful removal of the golden parts of the old shroud after the Asr prayer, while the new shroud will be placed on the Kaaba after the Isha prayer.
This tradition is performed every year on the 1st of Muharram and is remembered as a great and sacred act in the history of the Two Holy Mosques.
This year, for the first time, the Kaaba shroud was exhibited in Jeddah outside Makkah as part of the Islamic Arts Biennial 2025, which was hosted by the Diriyah Biennial Foundation from January 25 to May 25 at the Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport.
According to a report by the Diriyah Biennial Foundation, the Kaaba shroud is considered the highest example of Islamic artistic creation, combining Quranic verses, beautiful names, and Islamic decoration.
