Their palms facing the sky, around 2mn Muslims gathered yesterday on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the highlight of the Haj pilgrimage, one of the world’s largest annual gatherings.
The second day of the Haj is dedicated to prayer and reflection.
“I came up here last night and prayed, took pictures and called my family and friends,” said Maolana Yahia, 32, who made the trip from Indonesia.
This year’s Haj has seen the return of pilgrims from Iran following a diplomatic row and a deadly stampede in 2015.
But thousands who would normally make the journey from neighbouring Qatar are absent apart from a few dozen because of the diplomatic crisis shaking the Gulf.
Helicopters flew around the area as the pilgrims converged from dawn on the Mount Arafat plain and the hill known as Jabal al-Rahma, or Mount of Mercy.
Forming a sea of white, the pilgrims ascended the hill and took up positions to pray on rocks already heated by the morning sun.
On the concrete pathways linking the plain to the hill, hundreds of thousands of devout Muslims invoked God, as others rested in makeshift tents or on sheets along the side of the road amid empty bottles and waste.
At the foot of Mount Arafat, mobile barriers have been installed to control the movement of the crowds.
“They will be moved to enlarge the passages when there are more pilgrims,” said Ahmed al-Baraka of the Saudi security forces.
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