Latest updates from top global and Saudi news sources
Last updated: 21 Sep 2026, 11:04 AM (Saudi time)
As the 1448 Umrah season opens, pilgrims are reminded that Saudi Arabia requires a quadrivalent meningococcal vaccination certificate and may require polio or yellow fever proof, alongside practical health precautions for the crowded journey.
India released its Haj Policy 2027 on June 22 and opened pilgrim applications, keeping the 70:30 quota split, adding Kolkata as an embarkation point and introducing AI assistance and stricter medical screening.
Bangladesh's Ministry of Religious Affairs has released its Hajj 2027 roadmap, asking prospective pilgrims to complete registration by September 26 and outlining key dates through to the pilgrimage in May 2027.
Saudi Arabia has restructured Hajj 2027 service options into three categories, discontinuing the budget Package D and making bundled accommodation, transport and catering mandatory for pilgrims.
Mina's five-floor Jamarat complex, spanning 950 by 80 meters, can move more than 300,000 pilgrims an hour with hundreds of escalators, surveillance cameras, cooling and fire-safety systems, setting a global standard for Hajj crowd management.
Smart robots offering multilingual guidance, sanitisation robots, and AI-driven crowd analysis are expanding services at the Grand Mosque in Makkah as the 1448 Umrah season gets under way, with the Nusuk app tying the digital services together.