These astonishing images show a vast tent city housing thousands of Muslims in Saudi Arabia for the holy hajj pilgrimage.

Other pictures show tens of thousands of Muslims swarming the Kabaa, Islam's holiest shrine.

Up to three million Muslims joined in on the hajj pilgrimage, performing stoning symbols of the devil to symbolize rejection of temptation and a new, purified self.



Thousands of tents housing Muslim pilgrims are crowded together in Mina near Mecca, today

Thousands throng the roads into and through the sprawling city

Later in the day, pilgrims enjoyed a feast of freshly slaughtered sheep, goats and camels at a huge tent city in Mina, a desert valley east of Islam's holiest city, Mecca, where the Kabaa resides.

Similar sacrifices, marking the start of the Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, were carried out by Muslims around the world.

The holiday commemorates a story celebrated by Muslims, Jews and Christians in which God asked the prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son to prove his faith, but then in the end offered a sheep to kill instead.



Muslim tradition says it was at Mina, 3 miles (5 kilometres) from Mecca, that the devil tried to tempt Abraham to disobey God by refusing to sacrifice his son.



This aerial image made from a helicopter shows tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims moving around the Kaaba, the black cube seen at centre

Saudi policemen monitor CCTV screens of Muslims performing the annual hajj pilgrimage today

Hordes of pilgrims dressed in their white robes streamed across Mina valley yesterday toward three walls symbolizing the devil known as the Jamarat, chanting "at thy service, my God, at thy service."

The massive crowds streamed through a four-story platform the size of an airport terminal built around the walls, and each pilgrim stoned the largest wall with pebbles collected earlier on the nearby rocky plain of Muzdalifah.

They will return on each of the final two days of the five-day pilgrimage, which ends tomorrow, to stone all three walls.

The stoning ritual has caused frequent stampedes that have killed more than a thousand pilgrims in past pilgrimages. More than 1,400 people were killed in 1990 in a stampede in a tunnel leading to the Jamarat. In 2006, over 360 people died in a similar incident while they were on a platform performing the stoning ritual.

Turned on its head: A helicopter view of the city

Col. Khaled al-Mahmadi, the head of security at the Jamarat, said precautionary measures have been taken to avoid a stampede - including expanding the Jamarat platform from two to the current four stories to provide more room for the pilgrims.

"We have become experts in crowd management after handling enormous gatherings on the Jamarat over the years," he said.

Al-Mahmadi said authorities have banned pilgrims from carrying baggage during the stoning because it can cause people to stumble and fall, causing panic and injuries. Police have also set up one-way routes to and from the Jamarat monitored by cameras to avoid congestion.

Helicopters flew overhead yesterday to monitor the crowd, and policemen and volunteers on the streets called out, "Yalla, ya hajj" - "Hurry up, pilgrim."

After the stoning, many of the male pilgrims shaved their heads - the mark of a Muslim who has completed the hajj. Female pilgrims cut a clip of their hair.

"Now, I feel the burden of sin is off my shoulders. I feel free and purified," said Kheirkhah, an Iranian pilgrim. Bunches of hair littered the pavement around him at the foot of the Jamarat platform.

Islam requires that all Muslims who are financially and physically able to perform the hajj at least once in their lifetime. The pilgrimage is supposed to cleanse Muslims of their sin.

The hajj begins and ends in the holy city of Mecca, the birthplace of the 7th century Prophet Mohammed and the site of Islam's holiest shrine, the Kaaba.