SAUDI ARABIA: Workers in Mecca create the new cover for the Kaaba, known as the kiswa. The handmade Kiswa takes around eight months to make and around 6 million U.S dollars to produce

Record ID: 189247

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Workers in Mecca create the new cover for the Kaaba, known as the kiswa. The handmade Kiswa takes around eight months to make and around 6 million U.S dollars to produce
  • Date: 10th October 2013
  • Summary: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (OCTOBER 8, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FACTORY WHERE KAABA BLACK SILK COVER (KISWA) BEING MADE SIGN OF FACTORY VARIOUS OF WORKERS SEWING AND DECORATING BLACK SILK COVER WITH VERSES OF HOLY KORAN WORKER WORKING BLACK SILK CLOTH BEING DECORATED WITH GOLDEN THREAD BELT OF KAABA COVER BEING SEWN VARIOUS OF WORKERS SEWING BLACK SILK CLOTH WITH VERSES OF HOLY KORAN GENERAL MANAGER OF THE KISWA, MOHAMMED BIN ABDULLAH BAJUDA ENTERING ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED BIN ABDULLAH BAJUDA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE KISWA, SAYING: "All the raw materials are imported, the silk is imported from Italy and Switzerland to be washed several times until the waxy substance is removed, then the cloth will be dyed (in black) to send it to the machines. There are two types of calligraphy (used in decorating cloth), the first one is the unvarnished which is on the belt tinted with golden verses of holy Koran that surrounds the Kaaba, while the other is the embroidered calligraphy that decorates the outside cover of Kaaba." WORKERS DECORATING CLOTH OF COVER OF KAABA WITH VERSES OF HOLY KORAN MORE OF WORKERS SEWING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED BIN ABDULLAH BAJUDA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE KISWA, SAYING: "The quantity of the gold and silver is about 120 kilo, and the silk is 670 kilo." (Reporter asks: what about the cost ?) "We are linked to the price of Euro but approximately it costs about 20 to 22 million riyals." VARIOUS OF WORKERS WORKING SEWING COVER OF KAABA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED BIN ABDULLAH BAJUDA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE KISWA, SAYING: "The (old) Kiswa is sent to the presidency to be under the order of the leadership" (Reporter asks: To whom the Kiswa is presented, usually ?) "It is presented by the leadership to the ambassadors and embassies" (Reporter asks: As gifts ?) "Yes, as gifts." WORKER BEHIND MANUAL SPINNING MACHINE TO SHOW THE OLD PROCESS IN MANUFACTURING COVER OF KAABA (KISWA) MANUAL SPINNING MACHINE THAT WAS USED IN MANUFACTURING COVER OF KAABA (KISWA) WORKERS AT FACTORY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HUSSANIAN AL-SHARIF, HEAD OF THE EMBROIDERY DEPARTMENT, SAYING: "An application by trainees is submitted (to work in the factory), for instance, I have ten trainees now, six of them are receiving training here, one of the group of workers is supervising them and teaching them how to work, it is the same way of work that you see now. The period of training takes three months and could last for a year, the worker who will pass the training will then graduate." VERSES OF HOLY KORAN BEING SEWN ON BLACK SILK COVER OF KAABA VARIOUS OF WORKER OF FACTORY OF KAABA COVER KNOWN AS KISWA WORKING
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA835U4EUV3OA6LTTVQM8KR2HO2
  • Story Text: A new cover for the Kaaba has been made by a team of skilled workers, embroidered with golden calligraphy with verses from the Koran. Known as Kiswa, the black silk drape that covers the Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca is changed once a year, but despite the modern automation of the manufacturing process, it takes workers up to eight months to complete the elaborate cover.
    The Kiswa will be draped over the Kaaba at the culmination of the annual Haj or pilgrimage, which corresponds to the ninth day of the Muslim month of Dhu al-Hijjah. This year Haj is expected to start on 14 October.
    The heavy 658 square meters Kiswa is made of 670 kilograms of high quality silk imported from Italy and Switzerland, said Mohammed bin Abdullah Bajuda, the general manager of the Kiswa factory in Mecca.

    "All the raw materials are imported, the silk is imported from Italy and Switzerland to be washed here several time until the waxy substance is removed, then the cloth will be dyed (in black) to send it to the machines. There are two types of calligraphy (used in decorating cloth), the first one is the unvarnished which is on the belt tinted with golden verses of holy Koran that surrounds the Kaaba, while the other is the embroidered calligraphy that decorates the outside cover of Kaaba," he told Reuters.
    It costs around 22 million riyals around 6 million U.S. dollars, to produce a Kiswa. But costs can vary Bajuda added.

    "The quantity of the gold and silver is about 120 kilo, and the silk is 670 kilo. We are linked to the price of Euro but approximately it costs about 20 to 22 million riyals." Bajuda added.
    It takes around 210 all male Saudi workers at the factory to produce a Kiswa, and once one is complete work quickly begins on a new one.
    Every year once the old Kiswa is removed, it is then cut into small pieces and given to high profile Muslim dignitaries and organisations.
    One of the most time consuming processes is the stitching of Islamic calligraphy in gold threads onto the silk drape, a skill that has been passed on from one generation to the next, said Hussanian al-Sharif, head of the embroidery department who has worked at the Kiswa factory for more than three decades.

    "An application by trainees is submitted (to work in the factory), for instance, I have ten trainees now, six of them are receiving training here, one of the group of workers is supervising them and teaching them how to work, it is the same way of work that you see now. The period of training takes three months and it could last for a year, the worker who can pass the training will then graduate," Sharif said.
    Nearly all the workers come from the city of Mecca and most have worked there all their lives.
    Prior to the opening of the Kiswa factory in Mecca in 1927, the 47 pieces of the cloth cover were manufactured in Egypt and materials were bought from Sudan, India, Egypt and Iraq.
    Only 25 years ago machines were bought to automate the processes of manufacturing the material in Mecca, said Salman al-Loukmani, head of the material department at the Kiswa factory.
    Muslims associate the Kaaba with the prophet Ibrahim, the biblical Abraham, seen as the founder of a pure monotheism.
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