Gold, silver threads adorn kiswah calligraphy

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Many people may already know kiswah, which is cloth that covers the Kabah and is replaced every year with a new one on 9 Dhul-Hijjah (the last month in the Islamic calendar) when hajj pilgrims perform wukuf (staying in contemplation and prayer in the Arafat area of Mecca) which is the main ritual in the hajj pilgrimage.

However, there is something interesting in kiswah, namely the upper part of the Kabah where Arabic calligraphy with Quranic verses surrounding the cube-shaped building which is 13.1 meters high,  11.03 meters long in one side and 12.86 meters long in the other side.

Interestingly, the calligraphy was embroidered with gold and silver threads by around 200 local Saudi employees for approximately eight months for one kiswah.

According to Bandar, a supervisor at the Kiswa factory in Mecca, the gold thread for the embroidery of kiswah which weighed approximately 670 kilograms was produced in Saudi Arabia and the silver one was  imported from Italy.

Meanwhile, Vice Manager of the Kiswah Factory, Hisham Al Addin, said the kiswah was made with modern spinning machines and by employees who embroidered Arabic characters on the cloth under strict supervision to produce high quality products.

Although the making of kiswah is now using modern machinery, the old equipment is still stored in the factory which is already around 100 years old.

Reporting by Indonesia Window