[caption id="attachment_90962" align="alignleft" width="169"] The new Kiswa has a line of golden embroidery added for the first time to embellish the Yemeni corner.[/caption]Makkah — Visitors to the Grand Mosque in Makkah are admiring the new Kiswa (the cloth that covers the Kaaba) which replaced the old one on Monday. The new Kiswa has a line of golden embroidery added for the first time to embellish the Kaaba's Yemeni corner. The Kaaba has four corners: the northern one known as the "Iraqi corner," the western as the "the Levantine corner," the southern as the "the Yemeni corner," and the Black Stone is placed in the eastern corner. Some of the upper calligraphy of the Kiswa has been changed as well. Instead of having the words, "O the Living, the Eternal One" to describe Allah, it now has "Allah is the greatest." The Kiswa is made of pure silk with gold threads made at the cost of more than SR22 million ($5.8 million). It is manufactured in a special factory in Makkah which is manned by 240 technicians, weavers and administrators. The Kiswa is 658 sq meters. It is made up of 47 pieces which are joined together to cover all the corners of the Kaaba. The Kaaba is dressed in its new Kiswa on the Day of Arafat every year when the Grand Mosque is usually empty because all the pilgrims are gathered in Arafat. The Makkawis, especially women, take this opportunity to spend the entire day in the Grand Mosque praying and doing tawaf (circumambulation) around the Kaaba.
