Shrine of the Cloak, Sacred mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan

The site is a mosque in Kandahar that houses a religious garment inside a silver container. The chamber holding the relic is decorated with marble and gold ornamentation.

The cloak was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1768 by Amir Murad Beg of Bukhara to seal a treaty between them; an alternate account says Ahmad Shah borrowed it in Bukhara and carried it, with the stone slab he pledged it would never leave, back to Kandahar. In 1996 Mullah Muhammad Omar removed it from the shrine and held it before a crowd that hailed him as Amir al-Mu'minin.

The founder of the Durrani Empire built the shrine after receiving the garment as a diplomatic gift from Bukhara. Believers regard this place as a spiritual center that protects the city and the entire region.

The shrine is open to visitors daily, but the actual chamber holding the garment remains closed during almost all visits. Anyone wishing to see the site should focus on the prayer hall and inner courtyards.

The cloak was kept in Bukhara before Amir Murad Beg gave it to Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1768. The keepers allowed only two people to look at it during Qari Shawali's lifetime: King Mohammad Zahir Shah and the political leader Pir Ahmed Gailani.