Hajj pilgrims performed the symbolic stoning of the Devil on Saturday as their holy journey winds down.
Helicopters hovered overhead while security officers organized the flow of worshippers in Jamarat, where the stoning ritual takes place.
“Everything was easy, from organizing the crowd, or the stoning in Jamarat, to the Tawaf (walking in circles in Makkah's Grand Mosque),” said Nussaiba, a Palestinian pilgrim.
Saudi Arabia has said up to one million pilgrims, mostly from abroad, are expected this Hajj season after two years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic during which the authorities allowed only Saudi residents to perform the pilgrimage.
The Kingdom has developed a plan to gradually increase the number of pilgrims in the coming years, said Hesham Saeed, spokesman of the Hajj ministry, adding that those plans would depend on the health situation around the world.
Authorities said Friday that almost 900,000 were in attendance, nearly 780,000 of them from abroad.
Clad in white robes signifying equality in front of God, men and women from 165 countries converged on Jamarat to perform the ritual from a three-storey bridge erected to ease congestion.
In a speech welcoming the pilgrims, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz thanked “the huge efforts made by workers in all sectors”.
“We thank God the Almighty that we saw the pilgrims of his house, from different countries of the world, performing their rituals with ease,” tweeted King Salman.
After the stoning ritual, pilgrims return to Makkah to perform a farewell “tawaf” -- circling seven times around the Kaaba, the large black cube at the Grand Mosque that is the focal point of Islam.
An hour after sunrise on Saturday, the Kaaba was already surrounded by circumambulating pilgrims, while others at the Grand Mosque prayed on the first day of Eid al-Adha.
Facing the mosque, the Makkah Clock Tower -- one of the world's tallest buildings -- displayed the message “Eid Mubarak” (blessed Eid) in green.
Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice, marks the end of the Hajj.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf hailed the great efforts exerted by the Saudi leadership and government in serving the Hajj pilgrims and organizing the holy journey every year.
