One of the largest religious gatherings in the world has returned to full capacity this year for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...pandemic three years ago.
The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Moslems are required to make the five-day Hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do it.
For pilgrims, it is a deeply moving spiritual experience that absolves sins, brings them closer to God and unites the world's more than 1.8 billion Moslems. Some spend years saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the journey.
Maintaining the holy sites and hosting the annual Hajj is a major source of pride and legitimacy for the Saudi royal family,
...not to mention lots and lots of money...
which captured Mecca in the 1920s. The pilgrimage has occasionally been marred by tragedy, as in 2015, when over 2,400 people died in a stampede and crush of pilgrims.As the outbreak of the coronavirus led to worldwide lockdowns in 2020, Saudi authorities limited the Hajj to a few thousand citizens and local residents. The year before, some 2.5 million Moslems had taken part.