Community Rallies to Support Sundays at the Berkeley Thai Temple

The 25 year old tradition of Sundays at Wat Mongkolratanaram, also known as the Berkeley Thai Temple, is under attack as a few opposing neighbors campaign to shut it down. The larger community comprised of supportive neighbors and community leaders have spoken out to save this invaluable spiritual and cultural Berkeley institution.

In early December, Wat Mongkolratanaram, known as the Berkeley Thai Temple, will seek approval from the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) to continue its 25-year-old Sunday Food Offering tradition. The ZAB will hear public comments from members of the community and vote to grant or deny the continuation of this longstanding tradition. Supporters of the Temple including immediate neighbors, community organizations, and generations of Berkeley Thai Temple-goers have come together to rally support for the Temple.

The Sunday Food Offering tradition is an essential part of the Thai Buddhist religious practice of communal food sharing, giving Buddhists an opportunity to earn merit by providing their time, service, food and donations to the monks and the Temple. The Food Offering tradition and the generous donations of its participants, also allow the Temple to sustain its facilities, host five resident monks and two visiting teachers annually, and maintain the Thai Cultural Center of the San Francisco Bay Area which provides language, music and dance instruction to children and adults. Siwaraya Rochanahusdin, a Thai American who grew up at the Temple, is spearheading the efforts to save the Temple. She said, “The Temple offers an invaluable range of services to an otherwise underserved population. Discontinuing the weekly food offering would deny this community access to spiritual and educational opportunities not readily found elsewhere.”

Since spring 2008, the steady outpouring of community support to preserve the Temple has attested to its 27 years of spiritual and cultural contributions to the Bay Area. Immediate neighbors from Russell and Otis Streets circulated a petition in favor of Sundays at the Temple and received more than 2,300 signatures, including 800 Berkeley residents and 106 neighbors residing in the immediate vicinity of the Temple grounds. Students from UC Berkeley have voiced their support through the student government, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), which passed a Senate Bill in support of the Temple. Additionally, Asian Pacific Islander American community organizations like the Asian Law Caucus have rallied support for the Temple. Debbie Sheen, Housing and Community Development staff attorney at the Caucus said, “The weekly event is an important space for the Thai community in the Bay Area, and ending the Sunday Food Offering tradition is a detriment not only to the Thai community but also to the cultural diversity of Berkeley.”

On April 24, 2008, 19 complainants from neighboring Oregon Street spoke in front of the ZAB and urged board members to shut down the community event. Complainants spoke of parking scarcity, “offensive odors,” and litter in their yards. The Temple immediately responded to these concerns by undertaking extensive measures to participate in three mediation sessions with the complainants, cut its Sunday service hours in half, implement a neighborhood litter patrol, relocate the preparation of its food items, secure an exclusive parking lot from a nearby retailer, and actively reach out to its neighbors. At a second ZAB hearing held on September 25, 2008, immediate neighbors, members of community organizations, and generations of Berkeley Thai Temple-goers came together and spoke out in support of the Temple. The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board will hold a final public hearing on January 22, 2009 where a vote to grant or deny the permit to continue the Sunday Food Offering tradition will be decided. The hearing will be held at the Berkeley City Council Chambers on 2134 Martin Luther King Junior Way.

Wat Mongkolratanaram is located at 1911 Russell Street in Berkeley, California. For more information please contact savethethaitemple@gmail.com, call Christina Jirachachavalwong at 510.725.9549, or mail “Young Buddhist - New Generation”, Berkeley Thai Temple, 1911 Russell Street, Berkeley, California, 94703. Additional information can also be found at savethethaitemple.com and www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning.