More than 2 million Muslims from across the world are converging at tent city of Mina, in Saudi Arabia, as five day Haj pilgrimage began today. They will spend the night there and move towards plains of Arafat at dawn tomorrow for the day’s main ritual of Haj-reciting prayers. The pilgrims will spend the day there praying and asking for God’s forgiveness.

Nearly one lakh 75 thousand pilgrims from India are performing  Haj this year. For the first time, around one thousand Indian women pilgrims have gone there without Mehram or male guardian following Indian government’s recent decision.