Jakarta, NU Online
The number of Indonesian pilgrims arriving in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, until September 19, 2014, has reached 101,214 of the regular Haj quota of 155.2 thousand people, or 65.22 percent.<>

According to a written statement from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the pilgrims who had arrived in Mecca had departed in 242 groups. Meanwhile, 1,702 pilgrims who have been divided into four groups are on their way from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia. There are 130 groups yet to depart.

On September 15, the pilgrims who left for Saudi Arabia were part of the second batch. They directly departed from Indonesia to Jeddah. Upon arrival, the pilgrims are immediately moved to Mecca to carry out the obligatory pilgrimage.

This is in contrast to the first batch of pilgrims that departed on September 1-14 and landed in Jeddah and Medina. They were then moved to Medina. The Indonesian pilgrim quota of 168.8 thousand people is the largest of all countries in the world.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq