Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Pilgrims on the Mount of Mercy
ROSLAN RAHMAN / GETTY IMAGES ©
The Future of Hajj
Usually travel is all about the journey rather than the arrival. When it comes to hajj,
however, that is not the case. Throughout the ages, even when the holy cities were marked
by little more than a dusty conglomeration of desert encampments, the first sighting of the
Kaaba was a moment of wonder - an achievement of spiritual quest.
Over a millennium of pilgrimage, the infrastructure in Mecca and Medina has grown
beyond imagination. Today the Great Mosque in Mecca alone boasts a total area of
356,000 sq metres, with a capacity for 773,000 people (and up to one million people dur-
ing hajj season). As a point of comparison, the UK's Wembley Stadium holds 90,000
people, and the Dolphin Stadium in Miami holds 74,512 people, giving some indication of
the scale and size of the holy sites. The buildings are designed to impress, with soaring
minarets, polished marble, and prayer halls of immense proportions, and many pilgrims
are overawed by their first sight of the cities. Much of the US$10 billion Saudi earns from
the annual hajj is invested in enhancing this legacy.
