Having accomplished all Hajj rituals, the pilgrims began on Saturday night the "tawaf" or circling of the Kaaba, a cubic-shaped structure covered by a gold-embroidered black cloth in the direction of which Muslims turn for prayer.

The pilgrims, back in their normal attire after performing Hajj rituals dressed in two-piece seamless white cloths, walk around the Kaaba seven times anti-clockwise either in the courtyard of the sacred edifice or on the two huge circular terraces of the Grand Mosque.

The most zealous jostle to touch the Kaaba or kiss the black stone, which according to tradition was given by the angel Gabriel to Abraham and is set in the edifice.

Most of the 2.5 million faithful, more than 1.5 million of whom came from abroad, were due to leave Makkah on Sunday or Monday.

Before leaving, they were rushing to shops to buy gifts and souvenirs to take back home, with prayer beads topping their shopping list.

This year's pilgrimage, during which Saudi leaders and dignitaries repeatedly stressed that terrorism was totally alien to Islam, went without major incident.

The Saudi press said three pilgrims were killed Saturday during scrambles to "stone the devil" in the Mina valley near Makkah, but there were no tragedies of the scale of the stampede which claimed 251 lives during the same ritual last year.

The Saudi government said it had spent 28 million dollars modernizing the holy site to make it easier for the faithful to throw their pebbles at the "jamarat" and on installing extra cameras to allow the heavy flow to be monitored.

Three pillars symbolizing Satan have been replaced by 25 meter (80 foot) high walls which stones can hit more easily, and the concrete enclosure of the site has been coated with rubber to dampen the shocks.

"Thank God, the Hajj season was a success in every way this year," enthused Mecca's governor Abdul Majid bin Abdul Aziz, cited by the official SPA news agency.