RIYADH: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is set to celebrate Eid ul-Azha, the festival of sacrifice, on Thursday.

Thousands of Muslims will start for Eidgah just after the Fajr prayers.

The Eid congregations in the country will begin around 6:00am, sources said.

Prayers will also be held in other mosques, including Kaaba Sharif and Masjid E Nabawi.

Later the Muslims will exchange Eid greetings with one another and sacrifice there cattle by the name of Allah.

In the lunar Islamic calendar, Eid ul-Azha falls on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijjah.

Eid ul-Azha marks the end of hajj, a religious pilgrimage undertaken by millions of Muslims each year to Makkah in Saudi Arabia.

Much of the hajj rituals commemorate the ordeals of Abraham (Ibrahim in Islam) during his and his wife Hajar’s stay in the arid desert of what is now the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The stoning rituals represent Abraham’s rejection of Satan’s temptation. The “saie” (running seven times between the hills of Safah and Marwah (now within the Masjidil Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca, represents Hajar’s search for water in the Arabian desert.

“Tawaf” (going around, or circumambulation of, the Ka’abah) seven times inside the Grand Mosque is performed on the Station of Abraham.

BDST: 1012 HRS, SEP 24, 2015
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