More than a million pilgrims joined Islam's most important rite under a beating sun on Wednesday, as the hajj kicked off with the Saudi hosts scrambling to avoid last year's 1,000-plus deaths in sweltering heat.

With temperatures expected to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), robed pilgrims slowly circled the Kaaba -- the black cube at the heart of Mecca's Grand Mosque which is Islam's holiest site.

State media reported that others had begun arriving in the sprawling tent city of Mina on Mecca's outskirts where they will stay overnight before the hajj's high-point Thursday -- prayers on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.

About 1.4 million pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the hajj, one of the five pillars of Isl

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