The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques has undertaken a number of projects to allow visitors to worship at the Grand Mosque here in comfort when they come to the holy land, said Dr. Muhammad Bin Nasir Al-Khuzayyam, Deputy Chief of the Presidency. He told Saudi Gazette that as the prayer carpets in the Grand Mosque are subject to wear and tear and give off a bad odor after continual use, it is necessary to change them or make arrangements for their cleaning. Particularly in the peak season, i.e. Umrah, Haj and school holidays, the Holy Mosque is visited by very large number of people. Hence, the Presidency has provided 20,000 new prayer carpets. As each carpet is able to accommodate about 20 worshippers in three rows in congregation, these carpets will accommodate about 400,000 worshippers, said Al-Khuzayyam. For those carpets which are not totally worn out, the Presidency has opened a factory for cleaning them. The factory has the capacity to clean 300 square meters of carpet daily. After cleaning and drying, the carpets are brought back to the mosque, added Al-Khuzayyam. In order to maintain an international hygienic standard in the provision of drinking water, a factory has been built which is equipped with modern machinery to clean 25,000 water coolers and sterilize the plastic glasses to eliminate the possibility of contamination. Al-Khuzayyam further said that the factory preparing the ‘Kiswa' (the covering of the Ka'ba) has been renovated and provided with modern machinery to facilitate the embroidery with gold and silver fiber and the manufacture of the covering with pure silk thread. Every year the Ka'ba is covered with a new Kiswa which costs over SR20 million. A number of electronic boards with instructions about the rites of Umrah and Haj have been installed around the Grand Mosque in various languages to enlighten visitors about their performance of the rites. All the electronic escalators have been renovated and are being used particularly for the first floor and terrace.
