MAKKAH – A Saudi Muslim has reportedly walked more than 450 kilometers to perform hajj in Muslims’ holiest city of Makkah, 10 days after setting off from Bisha in southern Saudi Arabia.

“I took my journey to encourage people to walk, showing its health effects,” Othman Alshahin said, Saudi Arabic newspaper Sabq reported.

Alshahin took pilgrims’ old route from Yemen to Makkah, cutting 45 km every day.

In his journey, he met many people who asked about his destination and he said he was heading to Makkah for hajj, spreading the message of keeping healthy and fit.

Alshahin received a special celebration in Makkah by cyclists and pedestrians.

The Saudi national is not the first pilgrim to walk to Makkah for hajj.

An Indonesia Muslim reportedly walked more than 9,000 kilometers to perform hajj in 2017.

In 2012, 47-year-old Bosnian Muslim, Senad Hadzic, reached the holy city of Makkah on foot to perform hajj.

During his journey, the Muslim man walked for nearly 3,600 miles (5,900 km) from his Bosnian village to the holy city of Makkah.

Muslims from around the world pour into Makkah every year to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.

Hajj consists of several rituals, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj at least once in a lifetime.