With temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), robed pilgrims slowly circled the Kaaba, the black cube at the heart of Mecca's Grand Mosque which is Islam's holiest site.
“You feel like you’re not in this world,“ Khitam, a 63-year-old pilgrim, told AFP by phone, saying that “before hajj, I used to watch the Grand Mosque on TV all day.”
Authorities have ratcheted up heat protection measures such as extra shade to avoid a repeat of last year, when 1,301 people died as temperatures hit 51.8C.
Before entering Mecca, pilgrims must first enter a state of purity, called ihram, which requires special dress and behaviour.
Women, in turn, wear loose dresses exposing just their faces and hands.
“I am so happy, it’s such an amazing feeling,“ said Reem al-Shogre, a 35-year-old Saudi performing the pilgrimage for the first time.
Following last year's lethal heatwave, authorities have mobilised more than 40 government agencies and 250,000 officials to improve protection.
Artificial intelligence technology will help process the deluge of data, including video from a new fleet of drones, to better manage the massive crowds.
This year, they have cracked down on the unregistered, using frequent raids, drone surveillance and a barrage of text alerts.
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 killed up to 2,300 people in the deadliest hajj disaster.
Saudi Arabia earns billions of dollars a year from the hajj, and the lesser pilgrimage known as umrah, undertaken at other times of the year.
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