The event marks the culmination of a 40-day mourning period after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, Prophet Muhammad's grandson and the third Shia Imam.
Imam Hussein and his 72 faithful companions were martyred in an unequal battle with the enemies of Islam in Karbala over 1300 years ago.
Around 30,000 police forces have been deployed in and around the city to try to bolster security for the event.
At this circumstances about 25 Shia pilgrims were martyred and over 50 others wounded in a car bomb attack targeted crowds of Shiite pilgrims in the city of Karbala on Monday, the police said.
This is the third attack which took place around midday when a booby-trapped car detonated near processions of Shiite pilgrims at al-Da'oum area, just east of Karbala, some 110 km southwest of Baghdad, a source from the city police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Many Iraqi security forces were among the killed and wounded, as the blast occurred when security forces approached to check the car bomb, the source said.
Earlier in the day, the source said that a twin car bombs detonated Monday morning at a parking lot in the al-Ibrahimiyah area in east Karbala, killing six people and wounding up to 30 others, the source said.
The latest attacks targeted Shiite pilgrims who converge in tens of thousands from outside Iraq and from different Iraqi provinces on the holy shrine of Imam Hussien in Karbala to commemorate the martyrdom of the Imam.
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