India PM Modi tours divisive temple town of Ayodhya, the birth place of Lord Rama

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to the crowd during a road show before inaugurating a new airport and a railway station in Ayodhya, India, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.- AP

AYODHYA, India (AFP): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited a holy town on Saturday to open fresh transport links catering to pilgrims for a new temple steeped in a history of sectarian violence.

Ayodhya's new shrine to Lord Rama of the epic Ramayana, the ancient text book of Hinduism, will be formally unveiled next month on the grounds where a centuries-old mosque once stood, before it was torn down by Hindu zealots more than three decades ago.