PETITION AGAINST THE MANDATORY RESERVATION SYSTEM AT SANKAT MOCHAN HANUMAN TEMPLE
Sankat Mochan Hanuman Sangha, California
Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple was founded by Hindu Monk, Baba Hari Dass (Babaji) in 2003 with a vision to keep it open and free for all worshippers. The open air Temple is located on the grounds of Mount Madonna Center (MMC), which is run by a public -benefit non-profit organization in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California.
As of March 1, 2017, the management of MMC is enforcing Mandatory Reservation System. People are required to make a reservation online in order to visit the Temple on weekends and major Holidays. Limited number of online reservation spots are released by the management. The number of reservation spots changes every week. People have to wait weeks, and often months, before they get a reservation spot to visit the Temple. Many Temple visitors without reservations are turned away, even when they have driven far and were not aware of the Mandatory Reservation System.
EXAMPLE : On Saturday January 13, 2018, four people drove all the way from Sacramento (3 hours each way). This group had never visited this Hanuman Temple before and did not know about Mandatory Reservation System. There was parking available at the temple, still they were not allowed to enter the Temple and were turned away at the gate. All of them were very upset about being turned away. This is just one recent example. There were more that day and on many previous weekends and weekends after that.
Petition by
To:
Sankat Mochan Hanuman Sangha, California
From:
[Your Name]
I am opposed to the Mandatory Reservation System at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple located in Watsonville, CA
The Mandatory Reservation System is enforced by the governing body and community at Mount Madonna Center who are predominantly not Indian and not observant Hindus. Recently, this public-benefit non-profit organization is requiring devotees, who are mostly of Indian origin, to make appointments for worship at the temple located on their grounds, despite their founding principle of turning none away. They claim this is being done for two reasons: First, to assure capacity for fee-for-service programs such as Yoga Teacher Training and Ayurveda. Second, to extend quiet and privacy for the benefit of resident staff. I petition against this cultural misappropriation and violation of Fundamental Rights.
Please feel free to use the contact information in any manner which will assist in ending of this cultural misappropriation and violation of Fundamental Rights.