While the fate of a mosque destroyed a decade ago in north India keeps stoking controversy, Hindu-Muslim tensions are flaring farther south over a monument both religions claim as their own.
Hindu activists say the grand red sandstone Bhojshala monument in Dhar in the central state of Madhya Pradesh was a university of the religion's sacred language Sanskrit until it was attacked and rebuilt by Muslim rulers in the 13th century.
After a series of communal skirmishes the government last year announced a compromise that has left hardliners on both sides simmering.
Hindus are now allowed to pray at the monument every Tuesday. Muslims can worship there every Friday under a 1997 directive of the Archaeological Survey of India which keeps the site open to the public on other days.
Hindu fundamentalist groups argue that the monument is a temple and that Muslim prayers inside it should be stopped.
"It is sacrilege. How can Muslims pray at our temple?" asked Prasad Athle, a local leader of the Rashtriya Swayangsevak Sangh (RSS, National Volunteer Corps), which has close ties to India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Bhojshala is an out-and-out Hindu monument. It is time to rewrite history and correct the mistakes of the past," Athle told AFP.
The RSS and the Hindu Jaagran Manch (Hindu Awakening Forum), another hawkish group, said they had invited thousands of Hindu holy men, or sadhus, to perform special prayers here Tuesday and May 4.
"We are expecting a contingent of up to 5,000 sadhus to come and offer prayers at Bhojshala," said Gopal Sharma, a coordinator of the Hindu Jaagran Manch in Dhar.
"It is a show of strength. What is wrong in taking a stand for the things that one believes in strongly? One must have faith." he said.
The expected arrival of Hindu sadhus at Bhojshala has Dhar's roughly 40,000 Muslims worried.
"Hindu politicians are whipping up nothing but trouble. They are trying to turn this into another Ayodhya," said local Muslim leader Mohammad Dharvi. "But we will not be bulldozed."
The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was torn down by Hindu zealots in 1992, sparking nationwide riots that left about 2,000 people dead.
Hindu activists say the Babri mosque was built by Muslim rulers in the 16th century after they tore down a temple marking the birthplace of the god Ram.
The dispute is pending before the courts.
Kaji Moinuddin Chisti, the 43-year-old head Muslim priest of Bhojshala mosque, said he preferred "death to dishonour."
"My family has been serving at Bhojshala for years. As a part of this family tradition my children will live, die and serve Allah here," said Chisti. "I cannot let anyone change that."
"We feel shocked that the Hindus have started claiming this as a temple. We have been performing namaz (prayers) here every Friday."
According to historians, the Hindu ruler Anand Rao Pawar gave a wriiten order in 1930 that Muslim worship should be performed in the monument.
Hindus were banned from entering Bhojshala for five years after communal riots broke brike out in Dhar and other sensitive parts of western Madhya Pradesh in 1998.
Hindus say that a spring festival in honour of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, was celebrated in Bhojshala which has carvings in Sanskrit, the ancient language of Hindu sacred texts.