MECCA, July 6 (Agencies): One million Muslim pilgrims including the first international visitors since 2019 were converging on Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca for Hajj on Wednesday. Hajj will begin on Thursday.
It will be the largest Hajj since the COVID-19 pandemic severely curtailed access to one of Islam's five pillars.
Saudi Arabia's decision to allow some 850,000 Muslims from abroad to make the annual pilgrimage mark a major step toward normalcy after two years of a drastically scaled-down hajj restricted to Saudi residents.
The one million foreign and domestic pilgrims participating is still far less than the 2.5 million Muslims who travelled in 2019 for the pilgrimage, typically one of the world's largest gatherings.
Those performing the ritual this year must be under 65, be vaccinated against the coronavirus and have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of travel.
The pilgrims are chosen from millions of applicants through an online lottery system.
Saudi officials inspected the holy site on Wednesday and stressed their "readiness" to receive pilgrims with the goal of "maintaining public health."
At Mecca's Grand Mosque, pilgrims will perform the "tawaf", the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the large cubic structure draped in golden-embroidered black cloth that Muslims around the world turn towards to pray.
Many have chosen to perform the ritual ahead of Wednesday's official hajj start date.
On Tuesday afternoon, white-robed male worshippers and women in colourful abayas walked side by side on the white floors near the Kaaba, the majority without a mask even though authorities said last month that masks would be mandatory at the site.
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