The Odisha government has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in the Puri Rath Yatra, which begins on June 27.

The invitation comes amidst rising controversy regarding the Digha Jagannath Temple.

Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida said, “The chief minister has extended the invitation to the Prime Minister to be a part of the Rath Yatra celebration. He has also invited the Prime Minister to attend the first-year celebrations of the BJP government in office. The chief ministers of NDA-ruled states have also been invited to both the programmes.”

The Puri Jagannath Temple management committee on Monday held a meeting chaired by the scion of the Puri royal family, Gajpati Dibyasingha Deb in Puri to finalise various rituals for the upcoming Rath Yatra. The committee has decided to patent various expressions such as "Jagannath Dham", "Srimandir" and "Mahaprasad", in a bid to not let them be diluted. This decision was made after the Bengal government branded Digha Jagannath Temple as Jagannath Dham. The Odisha government has already written to its Bengal counterpart to drop the tag “Jagannath Dham” used for Digha Jagannath Temple.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee said: “The management committee has decided that we will go for patents for terms such as 'Srimandir', 'Jagannath Dham', 'Mahaprasad', 'logo of Srimandir', 'Shrikshetra' and 'Purushottam Dham'. It was approved at a high-level meeting today (Monday) to stop the misuse of the words associated with the Jagannath temple. The application for the patents will be applied soon.”

The committee has also decided to halt the construction of high-rise buildings around the 12th-century shrine in consultation with the housing and urban development department.