An interesting live video from Mecca showing pilgrims doing one step of the Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia). They seem to enter in an organized fashion, and then circle the black object (the “Holy Kaaba”) seven times. There can be up to 2 million people performing the five-day pilgrimage.
The video has several cameras in rotation (changing every couple of minutes). I assume they leave from the opposite side from where they entered.
The Saudi Arabian authorities have greatly improved, IMHO, their management of the Hajj. Sadly, the reason they’ve had to do that is both from effects of terrorists and local weather, not to mention the crush (literally at times) of humanity in the area.
For the step you’ve shown, the Tawaaf, I’ve often wondered why the authorities haven’t put in some king of rails to keep people moving in a more organized manner. Perhaps they could put in a double spiral. For the Stoning of the Devil, Ramy al-Jamarāt, the authorities replaced the pillars and put in a bridge to prevent people from accidentally throwing stones at other people. Again IMHO, they should have put in a multi-level bridge so people could get through that step more quickly.
If you want to see documentaries about the Hajj, and not that particular one, I have a DVD from National Geographic showing it in detail. This YouTube video looks like it might be the same:
Here’s the DVD:
You could also watch Spike Lee’s film X, which includes scenes of the Hajj shot in Mecca.
If you want outdated historical stuff (but still fascinating), read Sir Richard F. Burton’s Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and al-Medinah. I’ve read it three times. The Hajj before all the modern architecture was added (and before the crowds became enormous)
Thank you for those links. I used to collect the National Geographic magazine and from quite a few years ago I remember an article about the hajj. The author was an NG journalist, Thomas Abercrombie, who was Muslim and so could enter the city properly.
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