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Muslim pilgrims pray
inside the Grand Mosque, with the Makkah Clock in the background, on
the second day of Ramadan.
(Photo:
Reuters) |
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 Saudi Arabia unveils world’s largest clock
Saudi Arabia is ready to begin operating the world’s largest
four-faced clock, in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city, Saudi .....
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Jeddah: A giant clock on a skyscraper
in Islam's holiest city Makkah began ticking on Wednesday at the
start of the fasting month of Ramadan, amid hopes it will become the
Muslim world's official timekeeper.
The Makkah Clock, which Riyadh says is the world's largest, has four
faces measuring 43 meters in diameter.
It sits 400 meters up what will be the world's second-tallest
skyscraper and largest hotel, overlooking the city's Holy Grand
Mosque, which Muslims around the world turn to five times a day for
prayer.
"The Makkah Clock started with the order of King Abdullah ... one
minute after midnight on the first day of the holy month of
Ramadan," the Saudi Press Agency said.
Over 90 million pieces of colored glass mosaic embellish the sides
of the clock, which has four faces each bearing a large inscription
of the name "Allah". It is visible from all corners of the city, the
state news agency said.
The clock tower is the landmark feature of the seven-tower King
Abdulaziz Endowment hotel complex, being built by the Saudi Binladin
Group, which will have the largest floor area of any building in the
world when it is complete. Local media have said the clock tower
project cost $3 billion.
The clock is positioned on a 601-meter tower, which will become the
second tallest inhabited building in the world when it is completed
in three months' time.
"Because it based in front of the holy mosque the whole Islamic
world will refer to Makkah time instead of Greenwich. The Makkah
clock will become a symbol to all Muslims," said Hashim Adnan, a
resident of Jeddah.
The project is part of efforts to modernize the holy city and make
it more capable of catering to pilgrims. Around 2 million Muslims
visit the city each year for the annual Haj pilgrimage, a
once-in-a-lifetime requirement for able-bodied Muslims, and 3.5
million pilgrims visit Makkah at other times of the year.
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