The Globe and Mail

An aerial picture shows thousands of tents housing Muslim pilgrims crowded together in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, on November 17, 2010 as more than two million pilgrims launched into the final rituals of the hajj ahead of their massive exodus from Islam's holiest city. AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)— AFP/Getty Images

The road to Mina will be packed as more than two million pilgrims make the 8 kilometre journey in buses and cars to this tented city and staging point for the following day. For pilgrims this is the start of their pilgrimage. And for many, it will feel like a stop-and-start trip, because of the sheer volume of traffic. Saudi authorities actually advise that pilgrims might be better off walking the distance.

Pilgrims aim to arrive in Mina during daylight hours, engaging in worship and rememberance along the way. They will stay overnight in designated air-conditioned tents that hold between 20 and 40 pilgrims. Pilgrims will have access to power points, cooking facilities, toilets and showers. Their thoughts will be on the crucial next day.

ARAFAT, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 8: Muslim pilgrims climb down the Mount of Mercy January 8, 2006 in Arafat, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslim pilgrims moved towards Arafat, a revered place in Islam, for the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage). (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images)— Getty Images

Pilgrims will perform their dawn prayers and then journey over 14 kilometres from Mina to the plain of Arafat and the Mount of Mercy. They will be wearing the same white attire that they took on before arriving in Mecca. At Arafat, they will offer prayers and seek forgiveness from their creator. They will reflect on their lives and loved ones they have left behind. This is a deeply emotional time for pilgrims.

The gathering of pilgrims on the plain of Arafat mirrors the Day of Judgement story in which Muslims believe that all of humanity will be assembled on a scorching plain and judged by its creator.

As the sun sets, pilgrims leave the plain of Arafat for Muzdalifah.

Muslim men pick up seven pebbles to throw at pillars representing the 'devil' during the last stage of the annual hajj pilgrimage just before sunrise 01 February 2004, in the Mina valley, just outside the Saudi holy city of Mecca. Several people were trampled to death at the 'stoning of the devil' ritual in Mina according to the official Saudi news agency SPA. More than 1.7 million pilgrims will take part in the ritual on the first day of Eid al-Adha, or feast of sacrifice, in which faithful stone three giant concrete pillars symbolizing 'Satan'. Muslims from all over the world gathered in the Mecca area to perform the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam required of able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, if they can afford it. AFP PHOTO/AWAD AWAD— AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Exhausted and drained, pilgrims will sleep under the stars in the plain of Muzdalifah. Although their day in Arafat represents a key part of their pilgrimage, their hajj is not yet complete.

In Muzdalifah, they gather stones for the next stage of their pilgrimage.

A Muslim pilgrim hurls stones at a giant pillar symbolizing the devil in the Mina valley, near the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammed in Mecca 23 February 2002. Almost two million Muslims on the hajj pilgrimage continued the ritual of stoning pillars representing Satan, as Saudi authorities said the first often-fraught day passed off without incident. AFP PHOTO/Marwan NAAMANI— AFP

Shortly after sunrise, pilgrims leave Muzdalifah for Mina and proceed to the three stone pillars that represent satan. Each pillar is a reminder of the three temptations faced by the Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son Ishmael.

Pilgrims cast small stones and pebbles at the pillar as a symbolic rejection of temptation and satan. Saudi authorites have built a vast complex around the pillars so that pilgrims can fulfil their pilgrimage rights on various levels and avoid the crushes that have killed people in previous years.

While the pilgrims continue their hajj, Muslims worldwide celebrate the festival of Eid ul Adha on this day. It is a commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, and God's mercy.

MINA, SAUDI ARABIA: Muslim pilgrims shave their hair in a traditional ritual on the first day of Eid al-Adha 05 March 2001 in the valley of Mina, near the birthplace of Islam's Prophet Mohammad in the Saudi holy city of Mecca. Almost two million Muslim pilgrims also took part in the symbolic "Stoning of the Satan" ritual at the end of the annual hajj pilgrimage. (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)— AFP/Getty Images

After the ritual stoning of the pillars, male pilgrims shave their heads and female pilgrims cut a lock of hair to represent a new beginning, a rebirth, after completing the key stages of the hajj. They must also sacrifice an animal.

In the past, pilgrims were required to arrange for an animal. However, the sheer number of pilgrims in recent years means that they now purchase a voucher on arrival in Saudi Arabia and this ensures that an animal will be sacrificed for them and the meat shared with the poor.

Over the next three days, pilgrims must journey once more to Mecca to the Kaaba and spend several days engaging in the ritual stoning of the pillars in Mina before their hajj is complete.

Before leaving Mecca for the long journey home to their families, pilgrims make one last visit to the Kaaba - a kind of farewell walk seven times around the black cube structure. For many, it is a bittersweet moment, as it marks the end of their first-ever trip to Mecca and pilgrims wonder if they will ever return again to the birthplace of their religion.