A Lavish Look At The Haj

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 10th 2009 at 11:01AM

The haj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, gets grand treatment in the form of a $10 million movie called "Journey to Mecca" and an accompanying coffee table book from luxury publisher Kraken Opus. The movie was shot in IMAX, is narrated by Ben Kingsley and follows 14th-century Arabian explorer Ibn Battuta on his first holy pilgrimage of haj in 1325. The world premiere took place at the Emirates Palace hotel.

The book will include more than 2,500 photographs, poetry and artwork related to the haj and will cost more than $3 million to complete. It will cost around $4,000 a copy and unlike other Opus books it is not a limited edition. The goal is to have a book in every mosque around the world. The book will be released during Ramadan this year. The first copy of the book will be auctioned off for charity.

Tags: haj, kraken opus, KrakenOpus, mecca, opus