Muslim pilgrims began arriving in Mecca on Saturday for the second downsized hajj taking part under Covid-19 restrictions, with just 60,000 fully-vaccinated residents of Saudi Arabia able to take part.   

Photos showed masked pilgrims circling Islam's holiest site on socially distanced paths as the kingdom hoped to replicate last year's hajj which saw no virus outbreak.

The participants were chosen through a lottery system from more than 558,000 applicants aged between 18 and 65.

Applicants had to be fully vaccinated and not suffer from any chronic illness, the hajj ministry said.

While this year's hajj is larger than the pared-down version staged in 2020, it is drastically smaller than in normal times, stoking resentment among some abroad - who typically save for years before attending - who were barred once again.

After boarding buses to Mecca's Grand Mosque, pilgrims began performing the 'tawaf', the circumambulation of the Kaaba - a large cubic structure draped in golden-embroidered black cloth, towards which Muslims around the world pray.

Many attending carried umbrellas to protect themselves from the scorching summer heat.

'Every three hours, 6,000 people enter to perform the tawaf of arrival,' hajj ministry spokesman Hisham al-Saeed told AFP news agency.

'After each group leaves, a sterilisation process is carried out at the sanctuary.'

The hajj, usually one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings with some 2.5million people taking part in 2019, is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means to do so at least once in their lives.

It consists of a series of religious rites, formally starting on Sunday, which are completed over five days in Islam's holiest city and its surroundings in western Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, officials were seen replacing the silk cloth which covers the Kaaba, known as the kiswa. This is done every year during hajj. 

The covering's origins come from when the Prophet Muhammed covered the Kaaba with Yemeni clothes following the conquest of Makkah in the ninth Hijri year, as he performed his farewell pilgrimage.

The colours of the kiswa have changed through the ages, at various times being white, red and yellow.

But today it is black with gold and silver threads embroidered in it.

It is split into five pieces to cover four sides of the Kaaba and a curtain for the door to the holy site. Up to 50ft in length, it weighs almost 1,500lbs in high-quality silk.

It costs $6million to make and is traditionally paid for by Saudi Arabia. 

Among those selected to attend this year was Ameen, a 58-year-old Indian oil contractor based in the eastern city of Dammam, who was picked along with his wife and three adult children.  

'We are overjoyed,' Ameen said.

'So many of our friends and relatives were rejected.'

As in other Gulf states, Saudi Arabia is home to significant expatriate populations from South Asia, the Asia Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East. 

'I feel like I won a lottery,' Egyptian pharmacist Mohammed El Eter said after being selected.

'This is a special, unforgettable moment in one's life.

I thank God for granting me this chance, to be accepted among a lot of people who applied,' the 31-year-old said.