The Hindu : International : Record high pilgrims at Haj

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 22, 2005

International

International

Record high pilgrims at Haj

MINA, JAN. 21. White-robed pilgrims hurled rocks at pillars, symbolically stoning the devil in a purification ritual made safer at this year's Haj and performed by a record-shattering 2.56 million pilgrims after extensive remodelling helped reduce congestion that has led to fatal stampedes.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said today the numbers of domestic pilgrims — Saudis and foreigners living in the kingdom — were up significantly, and that countries were increasingly filling their assigned quotas. This year's figure is more than a half-million higher than last year or the previous high, 2.04 million pilgrims in 2003.

Across the Muslim world, the faithful also marked Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, the most important holiday in the Islamic calendar. Pilgrims crowding what traditionally has been a dangerous bottleneck area proceeded slowly but smoothly today for a second day of ritualistic stoning as the Haj winds down.

The pilgrimage, an annual event, is required one of every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to go.Stones flew fast and hard, sometimes chipping the surface of the stone pillars. — AP

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