JEDDAH: The Umrah season 2022 started on Saturday coinciding with the new Islamic Hijri year 1444. 

Officials from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah received the first group of Umrah pilgrims with bouquets of fresh roses, dates and bottled Zamzam water in Madinah on Sunday. 

For a safe and comfortable Umrah experience, the Eatamarna application provides a number of options for booking appointments according to the capacity outlined by the ministry, as well as detailed instructions for entering the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. 

The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque have also chalked out entry and exit plans to aid the movement of crowds at the Grand Mosque and its courts so that pilgrims can perform their Umrah rituals with ease, said Osama bin Mansour Al-Hujaili, the undersecretary of the general president for Tafweej and crowd management. 

Al-Hujaili said that King Fahd Gate, Al-Salam, and Ajyad gates have been assigned for the entry of pilgrims and other gates for the exit to avoid crowds. 

The presidency has allocated a number of smart robots to the women’s section at the Grand Mosque to provide information, clarity on rituals performance and remote communication with scholars, along with the option of adding live interpretation and translation in multiple languages.

The robot has a 21-inch touch screen and is equipped with four wheels and a “smart stopping system” that ensures “smooth and flexible movement,” as well as cameras at the front and rear that provide the robot with a panoramic image of its location, high-definition headphones and a microphone. It is connected to a high-speed 5GHz Wi-Fi network.