A festive mood is prevailing at the households of Haj pilgrims, who will start arriving here from tomorrow morning.
While some are throwing wazwan feasts on the arrivals of Hajis, others have kept adequate preparations in place to receive guests that are expected to greet pilgrims.
“The return of Haj pilgrims is like Eid for us. My brother is returning after performing Haj and all family members are eager to welcome him. We have made arrangements for the next 10 days as some relatives will also be staying at our home,” said Shahid Ahmad, a local resident.
Haj is among the five fundamentals of Islam and every believing Muslim aspires to perform the pilgrimage at least once in his/ her lifetime. The departure and arrival of pilgrims in the Valley is a joyous occasion as relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours can be seen pouring in for at least a week to greet Hajis once they return home.
The government has made adequate preparations to receive the first batch of pilgrims as two flights carrying 340 Haj pilgrims are scheduled to arrive at the Srinagar International Airport tomorrow.
An official said two daily flights would operate between Saudi Arabia and Srinagar from tomorrow till October 4 while a single flight will later operate on a daily basis from October 5 till October 14. He said a total of 6,642 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir had performed Haj this year.
