Cairo: As many as 8,000 stereos are installed at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site in the Saudi city of Mecca, to broadcast the adhan or the call to prayer as part of an advanced acoustic system across the sprawling place.
The mosque’s sound system is overseen and handled by over 120 specialists with the stereos spread inside and at the courtyards of the site as well as its expansions.
Back-up amplifiers are also provided and automatically operate in the event of any breakdown in the stereos.
The Grand Mosque houses the Holy Kaaba that Muslims around the world direct in their prayers.
Millions of Muslims from inside and outside Saudi Arabia flock to the mosque to pray and perform Umrah or minor pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia expects around 10 million Muslims from abroad to undertake Umrah during the current season that got underway three months ago.
The season began after the end of annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage that around 1.8 million Muslims attended in and around Mecca for the first time in three years after pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.
Muslims, who cannot physically or financially afford Hajj, go to Saudi Arabia to undertake Umrah at the Grand Mosque.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has unveiled a host of facilities for overseas Muslims to come to the country to perform Umrah. Saudi authorities have extended the Umrah visa from 30 days to 90 and allowed holders to enter the kingdom via all land, air and sea outlets and leave from any airport. Women pilgrims are no longer required to be escorted by male guardians.
The kingdom has also said that expatriates residing in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are eligible to apply for a tourist visa, regardless of their profession, and be able to perform Umrah.
