Photos/ Ubaid Mukhtar
Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, is an emotional affair in Kashmir as it constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam. Hajj 2023 begun in Kashmir on Wednesday as 630 pilgrims from nooks and corners of the valley reached the Hajj house in Srinagar where the pilgrims will gather to be taken to Srinagar and then Jeddah.
The Muslim pilgrims accompanied by their relatives and friends gathered near the Hajj house where they were welcomed by the officials of the Jammu Kashmir administration. Naat and Duroods were recited as a part of centuries old tradition to bid farewell to the Hajis.
In villages and small towns, neighbours of the Hajj pilgrim gather in large numbers reciting Durood and Naat and walk along with the pilgrim till they reach the boundary of another town/ village.
Officials said that on Wednesday, two flights are scheduled to take off from J-K to Saudi Arabia and each flight will carry 315 Hajj pilgrims.
“The first flight will take off at 3 PM while the other will take off at 5 PM,” he informed, adding that the pilgrims have been asked to arrive before six hours so that the necessary formalities are done well on time.
Around 10, 000 people from Jammu and Kashmir will perform the Hajj this year, as per the draw of lots held in the month of March 2023.
It is for the first time after the gap of ten years that the pilgrims will land directly in Jeddah from Jammu Kashmir while the authorities have also appealed to the pilgrims to carry their Ahram in their respective handbags.