Makkah News and Updates

Pilgrims worried over rising hotel charges

17 February 2014

Accommodation shortage in the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and overcrowding are causing difficulties for local Umrah pilgrims.

Hotels and furnished apartments near the Grand Mosque in Makkah and Madinah are fully booked by the Umrah pilgrims coming from abroad.

“I couldn’t find a single room available for my family in Madinah over the weekend. We had to spend the night in the car and sleep in the cold weather,” said Syed Rafi, a Jeddah resident.

Mohammed Ghafour from Riyadh said, “All the hotels near the Grand Mosque in Madinah have been pre-booked by the Umrah agents. There are no rooms available for the local pilgrims. After a three-hour search, I was finally able to find a room in a hotel that was 10 km away from the mosque.”

Many of the local Umrah performers in Makkah prefer to stay in the Grand Mosque for the whole day whereas in Madinah they choose to sleep in the car. The unavailability of hotel accommodation has forced many of the local pilgrims to spend the cold nights in cars or outside the vicinity of the Haram.

“It would be a good idea for hotel managements to reserve some rooms and make them available for the local pilgrims near the Haram in Makkah and the Grand Mosque in Madinah. It will become easy for the families with children and the elderly to spend their spiritual time in the holy cities,” said Ahmed Sayeed, a local resident.

Moreover, several local Umrah pilgrims complained about the soaring prices of the rooms which they said had gone up by 10 percent.

Habib Ali, a pilgrim from Dammam said, “Affordable hotels near the Holy Haram in Makkah are ‘reserved’ and the available ones are too expensive for the average pilgrim.”

“Affordable Hotels in Makkah and Madinah charge SR600-SR700 per night. Those wanting better services have to pay up upward of SR 800 per night,” he added.

A hotel manager in Makkah said, “As there is an increase in the number of Umrah pilgrims from different countries, the shortage of accommodation has spiked the prices of hotel rooms.

Moreover, the Umrah agent’s packages are adversely impacting the hotel profits. Thus, with the availability of fewer rooms, the hotels tend to quote higher rates for the local pilgrims.”

He added that businessmen have made heavy investments in real estate in the two holy cities, so in order to reap a high return on their investment the hotel owners hike the room rates.

Many other hotel managers also held the pilgrims responsible for the rise in price as they are ever ready to pay excessive sums of money for accommodation.

Basheer Abdurub said, “We pay the room charges without bargaining because it is very difficult to find vacant hotel rooms.” He added that room rates have gone up since the development and expansion of the two holy cities as millions of Umrah and Haj pilgrims visit the Kingdom every year. And as the numbers of pilgrims will continue to increase, local pilgrims will have fewer choices and simply have to accept their situation.

Summaiya Jaffer from Dammam said, “Pilgrims are more concerned about the availability of the rooms than their rates these days.

In fact, hotel room rates have been an issue with local pilgrims for many years so there is nothing new about it.” Several local pilgrims suggested that the hotel managements should consider reserving a few rooms and make them available for locals at affordable rates.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/527026

Makkah - Hajj Season 2013

Four mosques win architecture award


MODERN ARCHITECTURE: Although the KFUPM Mosque incorporates a traditional mosque plan, the design abstracts
traditional elements of the mosque through its use of modern architectural vocabularies and exposed concrete surfaces.

18 February 2014

The Abdullatif Al-Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture was announced as a global platform to contribute to the development of contemporary mosque architecture globally.

Around 35 mosques that have been built in the Kingdom since 1970 were nominated for the award. Four of these won.

The award’s first edition offered SR2 million, which was distributed among the four winners. These were: the mosque at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, the Al-Kindy Square Mosque, Four Communities Mosque in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh and the umbrella project in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.

The first session concluded last week at the Dammam Sheraton under the aegis of Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif. Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Board of Trustees and chairman of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities, was also present.

The launching of the award, which is managed by an executive committee, had been announced in Alkhobar to develop architecture by raising awareness of the importance of the role of structure and aesthetics.

Abdullah Al-Fozan, chairman of the Board of Directors at Al-Fozan Holding Co., said that the award aims to improve the construction of mosques in a modern environment while optimizing the traditional role of mosques.

He said: “The supreme objectives of the award are developing and enhancing environmentally interactive architecture and achieving an integral balance between a mosque’s beauty and spirituality and its surroundings.

“It is our hope that the award will highlight distinctive mosque designs around the world.”

He said: “The first edition of the award, to be given every three years, is up for grabs among mosques that have been constructed in the Kingdom since 1970.

“The following editions of the award will be held in other countries. A head office will be established to develop a database of winning candidates and designs so that their ideas can be reused by promising architects who wish to excel and contribute to the field.”

An endowment of SR60 million has been devoted to funding and ensuring the continuity of the award, he said.

The award also aims to support mosque construction globally and bring distinctive designs to the forefront.

“In the long run, the award aims to contribute to exploring the various trends that affect the development of mosque architecture,” Al-Fozan said.

The award is also designed to encourage architects, engineers, planners and designers, as well as students studying architecture, planning and engineering around the world to develop houses of worship both creatively and sustainably.

The initiative aims to provide a comprehensive database for organizations wishing to construct mosques. “It is vital that houses of worship set positive examples by ensuring sustainability at the social, cultural, economic and environmental levels,” he said.

The KFUPM Mosque is located on a platform at the edge of a small body of water on the campus. Although the building incorporates a traditional mosque plan, the design abstracts traditional elements of the mosque through its use of modern architectural vocabularies and exposed concrete surfaces.

The roof covering the square prayer hall is capped by a series of skylights arranged in a grid that filter in natural light.

This courtyard is designed as a fully transparent architectural feature rather than one that is enclosed from the sides and serves as a transitional space that leads to the mosque’s prayer hall.

Thin marble slabs and three wooden doors separate the courtyard from the adjacent prayer hall.

In the courtyard is a simple sunken water fountain that resembles a keyhole shape, located off-center to the southeast of the mosque’s central longitudinal axis.

The courtyard is also unusual because the mosque’s minaret is located inside it, again off-center, but to the northwest of the mosque’s central longitudinal axis.

In recognition to the award’s origin, the first edition covered mosques exclusively in the Kingdom.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/527431


King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) mosque in Dhahran,


Al-Kindy Square Mosque, Four Communities Mosque in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh


the umbrella project in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah

 

A British minister visiting Saudi Arabia took part Wednesday in the challenging and intricate process of embroidering a Kiswa, the black silk cloth that covers the Kaaba.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the UK’s senior minister of state at the Foreign Office and Minister for Faith and Communities, made the attempt during a visit to a factory that produces the Kiswa.

During her tour of the facility, Warsi was given a detailed lecture on the history and advances in the manufacture of the cloth that veils the Kaaba, a building revered by many Muslims worldwide.

In a Twitter post, Warsi described her taking part in the making of the cloth as a “huge privilege.”

“Visited Kiswah factory in #Makkah. Huge privilege to take part in making of #Kaaba cloth for #hajj 2014,” Warsi tweeted.

She said she was on an official visit to the kingdom and to perform the pilgrimage of Umrah, noting that “huge opportunities exist for #British firms” in Makkah.

“Great to see British @pbworld win major contract to support #Makkah infrastructure programme,” she added.

Engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff won a deal last year to work on the new Makkah Public Transport Program (MPTP), which will include a new metro line and a major bus network.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News...mbroidery.html