In temperatures that are expected to climb to more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), robed pilgrims will slowly circle the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site -- the black cubic structure at the centre of Mecca’s Grand Mosque.
Authorities have ratcheted up anti-heat measures such as extra shade to avoid a repeat of last year, when 1,301 people died as temperatures hit 51.8C (125.2F).
They then head to Mina, the site of a giant tented city, before the hajj’s high-point: prayers on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.
Men don a seamless shroud-like white garment that emphasises unity among believers, regardless of their social status or nationality.
Pilgrims arriving on buses were already trickling into Mina on Tuesday afternoon, greeted by staff offering them coffee and dates.
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Shaded areas have been enlarged by 50,000 square metres (12 acres), thousands of additional medics will be on standby and more than 400 cooling units will be deployed, Saudi Arabia’s hajj minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told AFP last week.
Authorities said most of the deaths last year were among unregistered pilgrims who lacked access to air-conditioned tents and buses.
Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota basis and distributed to individuals by lottery.
Large crowds at the hajj have proved hazardous in the past, most notably in 2015 when a stampede during the “stoning the devil” ritual in Mina, near Mecca, killed up to 2,300 people in the deadliest hajj disaster.
Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam’s holiest sanctuaries in Mecca and Medina, earns billions of dollars each year from the hajj, as well as the lesser pilgrimage known as umrah, undertaken at other times of the year.
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