RIYADH: Nearly 1.5 million religious services were offered to pilgrims during this year’s Hajj season, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance said that approximately 1,485,000 services had been offered from the day before Arafat, which was on June 15, until the end of Hajj. Saudi authorities said that 1.8 million pilgrims participated in this year’s Hajj. Six hundred Islamic teachers and translators were on hand to provide pilgrims with information about the duties of annual religious event. The teachers were able to support the pilgrims in Makkah, Madinah and at the Hajj location of Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. They also fielded calls from pilgrims who called a toll-free number set up for inquiries. The minister, Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz Al Alsheikh, thanked them and praised their work of aiding pilgrims.