become bustling with the footsteps

of millions of pilgrims wearing Ihram. The entire Mina Valley is now vibrating with the sound of their united voices, 'Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik'.

This year, the Hajj of Hijri 1446 is being celebrated. The pilgrims will stay in Mina until sunset today. They will leave for Muzdalifah in the evening. They will spend the night there and collect stones from there to stone the devil.

As the sun rises on Thursday (9th Zilhaj), pilgrims are preparing to stand at Arafat, the main pilgrimage site. They spent the night in Mina, which marks the beginning of the Hajj rituals.

The Plain of Arafat is located about 15 kilometers east of Mina. Pilgrims will stay here until sunset, after which they will depart for Muzdalifah, about 9 kilometers away.

Pilgrims will listen to the Hajj sermon

delivered from the Namira Mosque on the plain of Arafat, where they will pray Zuhr and Asr together.

According to Saudi authorities, so far about 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from abroad to perform Hajj.

Saudi authorities have deployed more than 250,000 personnel and coordinated with more than 40 government agencies to deal with a potential heat wave, said the country's Hajj Minister Tawfiq Rabia.

These measures include the creation of 50,000 square meters of additional shaded areas, the deployment of thousands of medical personnel, and the provision of more than 400 cooling units.

According to the Anadolu news agency,

the number of Hajj pilgrims in the last Hijri year (1445 AH / 2024 AD) was 1,833,164. Of these, 221,854 were internal pilgrims from Saudi Arabia. The Hajj Minister said that people from more than 200 countries around the world participated in the Hajj that year.

Children under 12 are banned from taking part in the Hajj this year, and pilgrims who attempt to perform the pilgrimage without a permit could face a fine of $5,000 (£3,685) and a 10-year ban from entering Saudi Arabia.

He added that 80 percent of those who died last year were illegal or unregistered, leaving them without air-conditioned housing, transport and other amenities when temperatures reached 51 degrees Celsius. Hundreds of Egyptians and Indonesians were among the dead.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and

is held in the 12th month of the Hijri lunar calendar. It is obligatory for every adult Muslim to perform the Hajj at least once in their lifetime, if they are physically and financially able. On the first day of Hajj, male pilgrims change their clothes and enter the state of ihram, donning two white garments (ihram). Women wear modest clothing and cover their heads.