After spending the night in air-conditioned camps in the Mina Valley, seven kilometers from the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, worshippers began their prayers at dawn on Tuesday, with temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius.
The Hajj is usually one of the largest annual religious gatherings in the world, it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and every Muslim must do it at least once, this time without restrictions on the number of attendees or their ages, after three years of being limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saudi authorities expect record attendance even higher than in 2019 where around 2.5 million Muslims from around the world participated in the rituals, but the following year and until 2022 due to the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus attendance was very limited.
Crowds of worshippers gathered from Friday in Mecca, then marched to Mount Arafat, pilgrims in white robes and sandals thronged the ancient city.
The rituals began Sunday night at the Grand Mosque, then the faithful slept in tents Monday night and arrived Tuesday at Mount Arafat, the climax of the Haj, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.
After throwing stones in the ritual “stoning the devil” on Wednesday, which marks the start of the Eid Al Adha holiday, the pilgrims return to Mecca to perform a farewell “tawaf,” circling the Kaaba seven times.
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