Haj pilgrims converged at Mina yesterday

About sixty thousand people will perform Haj in Saudi Arabia today as part of downsized pilgrimage due to coronavirus pandemic. Saudi authorities has restricted the pilgrimage to people residing there and are vaccinated against the Covid-19 to ensure safety of pilgrims.

       

Marking the beginning of five-day pilgrimage, Haj pilgrims converged at Mina yesterday. After offering pre-dawn prayers, they will proceed to plains of Arafat today for the main ritual of Haj -reciting prayers. They will spend the day there praying and asking for God's forgiveness.     



                          

   

The pilgrims will listen the Khutba-e-Haj or Haj Sermon at Nimra mosque and offer midday and afternoon prayers together before leaving for Muzdalifah in the evening. The pilgrims will return to Mina tomorrow morning for ritual of animal sacrifice and symbolic stoning of devil.

         

Around 2.5 million pilgrims including record two lakh from India performed Haj in 2019 before the outbreak of pandemic.