Hajj 2024 begins as more than 1.5mln pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia

The Hajj 2024 pilgrimage officially began on Friday as pilgrims in Saudi Arabia made their way on foot and by bus to Mina, where they will camp at one of the largest tent cities in the world.

The Mina valley, about 5km east of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, is a 250-hectare open space covered by more than 100,000 air-conditioned tents that can accommodate more than 2.6 million people.

The eighth day of Dhul Al Hijjah on Friday, when pilgrims first begin to arrive in Mina, is called Yawm Al Tarwiyah, or the day of irrigation, because of a tradition in which people carry water with them to the site in preparation for the Day of Arafat, when pilgrims climb Mount Arafat.

During the day, pilgrims will walk seven times around the Kaaba for the welcoming tawaf – also called the circumambulation of the Kaaba – and kiss the black stone.

In the afternoon, they will head to the Safa and Marwah hills near the Kaaba, where they either run or walk seven times between the hills, to symbolically emulate the run of Prophet Ismael’s mother Hajjar in search of water for her son.

Pilgrims will then spend the entire day on Friday until dawn in Mina, where they will prepare for the Day of Arafat, the most important day of the Hajj pilgrimage.

Saudi officials said more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims had arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by plane, with more expected.

Hajj is a sacred pilgrimage and is one of the fifth pillars of Islam. Each year, millions of Muslims worldwide travel to and perform Hajj in Makkah, modern-day Saudi Arabia.