Monday, January 9 2006 18:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Arafat(Saudi Arabia): Over twenty lakh Muslim pilgrims, including one lakh from India, started moving after sunrise today (Jan 9,2006) towards the plain of Arafat southeast of Mecca to perform the central rite of hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy city.

"I dipped my hands and feet in red henna to show how happy I am to be with God. I am all His today," said Zeinab Rifai, 69, from Banha, north of Cairo.

She slept in Arafat overnight with two other elderly female companions inside a small nylon camping tent.

Unlike the great majority of white-clad pilgrims, Rifaiwore a flower print dress and a purple headscarf.

Holding her worry beads, she raised her orange-coloured hands towards the sky in prayers and supplication as tears rolled down her wrinkled face.

The majority of pilgrims however started arriving after sunrise in Arafat, a small plain some 250 metres above sea level encircled by mountains.

They had spent the night in the valley of Mina to the north in tents or camped out with blankets and mats on the streets.

Pilgrims streamed on foot into Arafat through several wide pedestrian lanes or were carried by bus as thousands of Saudi policemen and security force members directed traffic.

"Go, go, go," shouted policemen over loudspeakers as the sounds of sirens and the din of the massed worshippers filled the morning air.

Tracing a journey made by Prophet Mohammed more than 1,400 years ago and following a tradition they believe was laid down by Abraham before him, pilgrims will gather in the afternoon for an emotional assembly in Arafat.