Hajj pilgrims gather in Mina for stoning of Satan
PTI | 03:11 PM,Nov 06,2011
Mecca, Nov 6 (PTI) Millions of Muslims from across the globe, including India, today converged on a valley near Mina, just outside Mecca, for the stoning of Satan, the last ritual of the world's largest annual human assembly, Hajj pilgrimage. Dressed in white seamless clothes, men and women of all ages made their way to perform the stoning of three jamarat (pillars) representing Satan, a ritual which has witnessed death of hundreds of pilgrims in the stampedes in the past. After preforming prayers on the plains of Mount Arafat yesterday, the pilgrims travelled to an open plain called Muzdalifa, between Arafat and Mina, to collect pebbles and throw them at pillars representing Satan. In January 2006, 364 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at the entrance to a bridge leading to the stoning site, while 251 were trampled to death in 2004. After stoning, the pilgrims will perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, marking the end of Hajj, and celebrate the three day global festival of Eid al-Adha. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is a duty that all able-bodied Muslims must undertake at least once in their lifetime. Over 1.25 lakh Indians are among three million Muslims from 183 countries, who are in Mecca to perform Hajj. The highlight of this year's Hajj is the new Metro rail that is shuttling tens of thousands of pilgrims. The Hajj metro is operating for the first time and has capacity of 72,000 people per hour to ease congestion and avoid stampedes which have previously killed hundreds. Around 63,000 security forces in addition to the 17,000 traffic policemen and tens of thousands of officials have been deployed to make the pilgrimage accident free. PTI ZH AKJ
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