Pilgrims gathered for dawn prayers and performed the initial rites of the hajj on Thursday in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca in the largest Islamic pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic upended the event – a key pillar of Islam.

The hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for all Muslims physically and financially able to make the journey.

Pilgrims spend several days carrying out a series of rituals intended to bring them closer to God, walking the path traversed by Prophet Muhammad some 1,400 years ago.

That includes praying around the cube-shaped Kaaba, the holiest shrine in Islam.

At the centre of the Grand Mosque's open courtyard on Wednesday, thousands of unmasked pilgrims circled the Kaaba.

They moved counter-clockwise seven times around the granite building, their hearts tilting toward the structure meant to symbolise the oneness of God in Islam.

This year, the hajj is open to one million foreign and domestic pilgrims who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, tested negative for Covid-19 and are between 18 and 65 years old.

Saudi officials inspected the holy site on Wednesday and stressed their “readiness” to receive pilgrims with the goal of “maintaining public health”.

After the coronavirus struck in 2020, Saudi authorities allowed just 1,000 pilgrims already residing in the kingdom to attend, prompting historians to compare the disruption to the site’s storming by religious extremists and dramatic closure in 1979.

Last year, the hajj was similarly restricted to 60,000 fully vaccinated Muslims living in Saudi Arabia. The unprecedented curbs sent shock waves throughout the Muslim world, devastating many believers who had spent years saving up for the religious rite. (AP)