Commemorations of Ashura, which remembers the slaying of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson in the southern Iraqi city in the seventh century, have been marred in the past two years by rebel attacks that left dozens dead.
Eight thousand security personnel imposed a massive lockdown on Karbala, forbidding access to cars, searching hotels and conducting body searches on thousands of black-clad pilgrims.
"The ceremony started at sunrise with thousands of pilgrims participating," Karbala police chief General Razek Abd Ali Al Tayi said. "We expect at least a million pilgrims to be present."
Large groups of men with shaven heads marched toward the mausoleum of Imam Hussein flagellating their heads with knives and swords as part of the mourning ceremonies commemorating Hussein's martyrdom.
"I am participating in this ceremony as it is the least I can offer to Imam Hussein who gave his life for Islam," said Riaz Mustafa, 30, whose head was bleeding from deep gashes after series of stabs.
Clad in white burial shroud, now drenched in blood, Mustafa was among the hundreds who were bleeding profusely from the rituals of self-flagellation meant to evoke sufferings of Hussein in his final hours.
"This is the third time I am participating since the fall of the regime," Mustafa Said. "I am happy to see that the ceremony is being conducted without any government interference."
Outlawed under the Sunni-dominated regime of ousted president Saddam Hussein, Ashura is the most venerated of Shia events and has been targeted by Sunni Arab insurgents in previous years.
In 2004, 170 people were killed in attacks in Baghdad and Karbala and another 44 died in a single incident in Karbala in 2005.
Iraq's majority but conservative Shia community has now emerged as the dominant force in the country's post-war politics.
On Friday the election commission was set to announce the final results of the December elections, in which the conservative Shia United Iraqi Alliance has emerged as the largest bloc winning 128 seats of the 275-member parliament, according to provisional figures.
And on Saturday the alliance will declare its candidate for the prime minister's post. The announcement, originally scheduled for Monday, was delayed for the Ashura ceremony.
Toward midday, thousands of pilgrims started running toward the Hussein shrine chanting slogans "Hussein Hussein! We will not forget you".
The run, which started from the eastern gate of Karbala toward the shrine, marks the closing ritual of the ceremony, after which the devotees will begin to disperse.
The police were struggling to control the crowd to make way for the running devotees amid fears of a possible stampede.
Meanwhile, Tayi said that no suspicious incidents have been reported since the start of the ceremony on Thursday.
"There has been no violation since the ceremony started and we have tightened security further. We are not even allowing authorized vehicles to come near the mausoleum," he said.
Hundreds of Shia pilgrims from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan were also participating in processions that were marching peacefully toward the Hussein mausoleum.
Dozens of mobile clinics were parked at every corner and close to the mausoleum to treat the bleeding men who after a quick shower were nursing their wounds.
Imams also narrated the suffering of Hussein and his followers and his eventual martyrdom, and plays will be performed portraying the events.
Meanwhile in Najaf, the other holy city for Shias, Ashura mourners burned Danish flags to protest against the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed published by some European newspapers.
The 500-strong Danish force operating in southern Iraq kept a low profile during the period of the ceremonies, said Danish officials.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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