NEW DELHI, 13 March

Thousands of Hindus were trying yesterday to head toward the northern Indian town of Ayodhya - a lighting rod for Hindu-Muslim tension for a decade - ahead of a court ruling which could stoke religious strife.

The Supreme Court was to decide today whether to allow Hindus to hold what they call a prayer ceremony in Ayodhya despite opposition by Muslims who see it as a prelude to the building of a temple on top of a mosque razed by Hindu zealots in 1992.

While awaiting the court's ruling, the government has pledged to keep hard-line Hindus out of Ayodhya, sealing roads and canceling trains in a bid to contain Hindus violence that erupted in the western state of Gujarat on Feb. 27 killing more that 1000 people.

Hard-line Hindus, from the same extremist group as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have nonetheless vowed to head to Ayodhya to take part in the prayer ceremony, or "puja", and show their support for the temple plans.

"No court can stop us performing the puja. If it does, it will be injustice against the Hindus," said Haresh Bhatt, from the extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Gujarat. He said 1,000 people would leave by train for Ayodhya and dismissed police warnings they would be arrested.

A huge mob of Hindu zealots tore down the 16th-century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 - triggering nationwide riots in which 3,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. The dispute is at the root of India's worst communal violence in a decade which began on Feb. 27 when unknown attackers attacked a train carrying Hindu activists from Ayodhya, killing 58.

That sparked reprisals in which over 700 people, mostly Muslims were killed and raped in Gujarat. Thousands of Muslims are still sheltering in relief camps, too frightened to go home.

In Gujarat's commercial capital Ahmedabad, some 500 armed police and paramilitary soldiers guarded the railway station where Hindu groups have threatened to catch the Sabarmati Express - the same train torched on Feb. 27.