More than 166 million stones thrown at the Jamarat in Hajj ritual

As sunset came to Mina on Thursday, the second day of Tashreeq, somewhere in the range of 166,017,250 stones had been thrown at the Jamarat amid the ritual 'Stoning of the Devil' over Eid-Al-Adha and the initial two long periods of Tashreeq. 

Thursday saw “huge numbers of pilgrims” — around 1.6 million — stoning the three pillars and performing Tawaaf prayers in the Grand Mosque, according to Col. Tariq Al-Ghabban, director of the Command and Control Center, reported Arab News.

The General Authority for Statistics has announced that there are 2,371,675 pilgrims performing Hajj this year — 1,758,722 from outside the Kingdom and 612,953 from inside.

Plans had been put in place to ensure the mosque was able to accommodate the massive influx of pilgrims and to safely and quickly guide them to the Jamarat, Al-Ghabban said.

Pilgrims who threw stones at the Jamarat on the first and second days of Tashreeq (the days that follow the Eid day) need not repeat the ritual on the third day provided that they leave Mina before sunset.

On the third day of Tahsreeq, the remaining pilgrims will stone the Jamarat before heading to Makkah to perform prayers at the Grand Mosque.