With the Haj 2026 application deadline having ended on August 7, applicants can now wait for the draw of lots known as “Qurrah” (digital random selection) to find out if they have been selected for the annual pilgrimage through the Haj Committee of India. The government has not yet revealed the total number of applicants. The Qurrah is expected to be conducted on August 13 at 11.30 am in the Committee Room, Haj Committee of India, Haj House, Mumbai. The session is scheduled to be livestreamed online and will be published on the Committee’s website (www.hajcommittee.gov.in). The committee also said that it will publish the list of provisionally selected and waitlisted applicants on its official website, with notifications also sent via SMS. All provisionally selected pilgrims must pay the advance Haj fee of Rs 1,52,300 by August 20, 2025.Haj 2026 pilgrims will have 17 designated embarkation points for their journey, which include Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, among others. Apart from the existing 17 embankment points, Vijayawada has recently been added to the list. For the first time, the Haj Committee of India is offering a shorter, 20-day Haj package for pilgrims, as part of the guidelines released for Haj 2026.A maximum of 10,000 pilgrims will be selected for the shorter Haj package, while the rest of the pilgrims will follow the traditional 40-45 day schedule. If applications for the short-duration pilgrimage exceed the 10,000 limit, a lottery system will be used to determine selection.