A piece of the Holy Ka’aba’s Kiswa has been handed over to the senior caretaker of the Holy Ka’aba Dr Saleh bin Zain Al-Abidin Al-Shaibi on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The Kiswa is made of special natural silk that is dyed black.

The height of the Kiswa is 14 meters, and consists of 16 pieces surrounded by a square shape of Islamic decoration.

On July 1, Kiswa, the black cloth draped around the holy shrine, was raised three meters in preparation for the new Hajj season and was replaced with white cloth.

The procedure is done every year before the Hajj season in order to protect the Kiswa, as some pilgrims touch and pull on the black cloth when they circumambulate the Kaaba.