This month, Muslims from around the globe traveled to Saudi Arabia to begin the annual Islamic pilgrimage known as the Hajj. On Voyager in Google Earth, you can follow their footsteps and learn more about its history through Pilgrimage to Mecca, an interactive story that celebrates the Hajj.
Travel photography and photospheres taken by Local Guides like you bring each stop of the pilgrimage to life. They transport Google Earth users to significant sites with 360° views and capture the spirit of this epic journey. Flying first to Jeddah Airport’s Hajj Terminal, the itinerary moves from Mecca to Medina and back again.
For more than one million Muslims taking part in this year’s Hajj, the journey begins on Aug. 19. Every Muslim is encouraged to undertake the Hajj at some point in their life, and this multimedia trip gives users a glimpse at its fascinating history.
This story takes the user on a captivating, multimedia tour, while explaining the history behind a journey which is more than a thousand years old. Thanks to guidance from Akbur Ghafoor, chief education officer at The Council of British Hajjis and a Google employee, the story explains each stage of the Hajj, and how certain rituals retell key moments from Islam’s history.
Learn more about the prophets Ibrahim and Muhammad and the meaning behind the ceremonies observed in mosques, on mountains, and along flat desert plains. Find out why it is customary to drink water from an age-old well, throw pebbles at three pillars, and make seven rotations around the holy square structure, the Kaaba.
We are excited to share this with the Local Guides community, particularly those who captured their Hajj journey and shared this imagery on Google Maps. These contributions enabled us to produce this visually immersive, engaging educational resource.
@ShravanJain its very difficult for us as Muslims these days to participate in Alhajj because its one of the 5 pillars of Islam and we must make this pilgrimage “Hajj” once in our life , as the number of Muslims around the world 2 billions so they accept people by Age so for example from my country Jordan they accepted elderly people to make the pilgrimage the reason is to let them make this pillar “Hajj” before dying
Hello @LucyPalmer thank you for writing this nice post. FYI, for Indonesian like me, we need to wait until 2040 if register for Hajj in last year. This happened due to timing (only held in specific Islamic month, once a year) and capacity limit of Mekka.
Bro @AnuradhaP I think Mekka will full capacity during Hajj season. Muslims from around the world come together. It will very hard to approach the place without specific visa (for Hajj reason and supporting team)
Thank you @LucyPalmer for sharing this wonderful post
@ShravanJain@AnuradhaP , There is a severe limitation on Muslims to attend Hajj, now are only allowed once in a lifetime. Non muslims are not allowed in the holy cities of Makkah and Madina.
The good thing is now everyone can explore the city and pilgrimage using Google!
Hi @LucyPalmer great post, thanks for share with us. This year I try to help pilgrims with Google Maps, soon I will make a post in Connect. Hope everyone appreciate it.
Hi @LucyPalmer thank you for your beautiful and very helpful post. I appreciate that every one has to know about the Pilgrim (Hajj). Thank you to Google and Google Team for their great work and efforts too.
Es un gran post @LucyPalmer , gracias por compartirlo, y darnos la gran oportunidad de aproximarnos a esta gran cultura de oriente, la Musulmana, que representa una gran proporción de la humanidad.
@Anonymous_3c26c4c3e3202ba535bf8653856710d2 , en algún momento de mi vida me gustaría tener la oportunidad de visitar la meca, no soy Musulman, pero mi abuelo materno lo era y algunos familiares de el tambien. Comparto contigo que estos post ayudan a comprender la cultura arabe, y aquí la gran oportunidad para los Local Guides de Oriente, de postear otros aspectos de allí. Mis respetos para ustedes en estas fechas tan importantes.
Saludos Farid
For the case that has difficulty, in reading my answer, in the upper right part of the screen, in the drop-down menu of languages, you can select the language, in which you want to read the post.
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La Ilaha Ilallahu Wallahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Wa Lillahil Hamd.
Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. There is no deity besides Allah and Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest and all praises are for Allah only.
