The annual Islamic Haj pilgrimage on Friday reached its climax as millions dressed in traditional white robes pelted pebbles on pillars at Mina in Saudi Arabia symbolising the devil on the third day of the Haj as Muslims worldwide marked the holy day with mass animal sacrifices.

"In the Holy Site of Mina, pilgrims performed Hajj ritual of stoning in a streamlined system according to the prepared grouping plan," an official statement said.

Muslims also performed Eid Al-Adha prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and Prophet's Mosque in Madinah in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Millions of pilgrims in Mina filed by the three jamarat pillars tossed stones to mark Abraham's three rejections of the devil's attempts to persuade him to ignore God's instructions to sacrifice his son Ishmael.

The stoning was orderly during the night and early morning today. Saudi authorities hoped enlarged pillars and a newly-built five storey pilgrim walkway would avert the deadly stampedes of previous years caused by crush of the faithful as they jammed into the area for the ritual.

The stoning ritual is followed by the sacrifice of livestock, also rooted in the Koranic account. As Abraham fended off the devil and moved toward fulfilling the command to sacrifice his son Ismail in the name of Allah, an angel of God, Gebrael intervened and revoked the command, supplying Abraham instead with a ram to sacrifice.

Stampedes of panicked pilgrims at the stoning ritual area were frequent in past Haj pilgrimages. In 2006, 346 were crushed to death at the site while performing the ritual.

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