July 31, 2020, 10:14 AM
Muslim Pilgrims began their annual Haj on Wednesday, July 29.
This year's pilgrimage is significantly scaled back, with only 10,000 people already residing in Saudi Arabia attending the Haj — a stark contrast to 2019's 2.5 million figure.
Before and after Covid-19
The pictures paint a vastly different story from previous iterations.
Here is a picture from pre-Covid-19 days:
Kaaba in Mecca, millions of people coming to visit Kaaba in Mecca for pilgrimage/ Image from Getty.
Here are the scenes from this year's pilgrimage:
A picture taken on July 29, 2020 shows pilgrims, some holding coloured umbrellas along matching coloured rings separating them as a COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic measure, while circumambulating around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the centre of the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, at the start of the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage. - Mask-clad Muslim pilgrims began the annual hajj, dramatically downsized this year as the Saudi hosts strive to prevent a coronavirus outbreak during the five-day pilgrimage. The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, is usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - A picture taken on July 29, 2020 shows pilgrims holding coloured umbrellas along matching coloured rings separating them as a COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic measure while circumambulating around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the centre of the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, at the start of the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage. - Mask-clad Muslim pilgrims began the annual hajj, dramatically downsized this year as the Saudi hosts strive to prevent a coronavirus outbreak during the five-day pilgrimage. The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, is usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Image from Saudi Ministry of Media
Photo from Saudi Ministry of Media
Photo from Saudi Ministry of Media
Muslim pilgrims pray at the Namira Mosque on Arafat Day, the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on July 30, 2020. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
After sunset prayers, they will then climb down to Muzdalifah, another holy site, to sleep under the stars, before the final stage of Haj, the symbolic "stoning of the Devil".
Here's what that looked like in previous years.
Image from Saudi Ministry of Media
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