Haj pilgrimage begins today, over 1 lakh Indians participating this year

They will spend the night there and move towards the plains of Arafat at dawn on Sunday for the day’s main ritual of Haj-reciting prayers.

The pilgrims will spend the day there reciting the Holy Quran and praying. Nearly 1, 36,000 Indians are performing Haj this year.

During Haj, men pilgrims wear a seamless two-piece white garment, symbolising a state of purity. Women also generally wear white, covering full body except their faces and hands.

The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam that should be performed at least once in lifetime by every Muslim who is financially and physically capable.

The head of Iran’s Hajj Organisation accused Saudi Arabia on Friday of deliberately barring Iranians from the pilgrimage and refusing to discuss security measures despite last year’s deadly stampede.

“How are you going to invite 1.5 million pilgrims and not even allow yourself to think about the security measures?” Said Ohadi, head of Iran’s Hajj Organisation, told AFP. Iran had the highest confirmed death toll among foreign
nationalities in last year’s stampede with hundreds of its citizens killed.

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