Wearing a wide floppy hat and shielding his eyes behind sunglasses, Angom Singh looks like any other deeply tanned hiker.
Minus the hat, his shaved head and tiny pigtail bear the hallmarks of the Hare Krishna religious sect, a derivative of Hinduism.

Wearing a wide floppy hat and shielding his eyes behind sunglasses, Angom Singh looks like any other deeply tanned hiker.
Minus the hat, his shaved head and tiny pigtail bear the hallmarks of the Hare Krishna religious sect, a derivative of Hinduism.
Singh moved to the United States from Manipur, India and has been a Krishna monk for 18 years.
After moving to Sedona in February, he sits almost every day behind a folding table heaped with hats and T-shirts at the entrance to the Bell Rock Trailhead with only rain and high winds keeping him away.
Sheltered by a small rust-colored umbrella, he’s surrounded by tubs full of additional merchandise, relying on a cellphone to keep him company when business is slow.
Although monks are allowed to marry, he is single, working seven days a week to make money for a new temple that he said is planned for Sedona.
At present, he and several other members of the sect live in West Sedona where they worship at a small temple in their rented home.
Each morning the monks disperse to sell their wares at the Bell Rock and Midgely Bridge Trailheads and at Vista Point at the top of the Oak Creek Canyon switchbacks.
Since Singh does not currently own a car, one of the other monks drives him to the Village of Oak Creek and then picks him up in the late afternoon.
When he’s not working, he said that he spends his time with others from the sect engaged in prayers, peaceful meditations, classes and singing.
Next to the table of merchandise is a sign that identifies Singh as a member of the “International Society for Krishna Consciousness Assisting Food Relief, Education and Counseling.”
It also gives a tax exempt number, an address and telephone number in Tucson, and the statement that the vendor is exercising First Amendment Rights.
Singh said that he has a permit to sell his wares from the U.S. Forest Service, but none was in evidence.
“My understanding is that he does not have a permit,” said Red Rock District Ranger Heather Provencio. “However, he’s allowed to be there because the 9th Circuit Court ruled that since the tenets of his religion require him to sell things, he may do so on federal land.”
When Singh was asked how he thinks the Forest Service feels about him setting up shop at the entrance to one of the most popular trails in Sedona, he said that the Forest Service does not say anything to him.
“We don’t have feelings about it and we don’t make the laws; we just follow the laws,” Provencio said.
Just because the Krishnas can set up shop doesn’t mean that any other nonprofit organization or religious agency can offer him some competition by setting up shop a few feet further down the rock wall.
“The ruling applies only to the Krishnas,” Provencio said.
Up at Vista Point, the USFS  has a more symbiotic arrangement with the American Indian tribes who hold official permits to sell their goods at the overlook.
“Vista Point is a good example of recreation resource management,” Provencio said. “The Native Americans manage the overlook for us, and the money from their permits goes right back into the Forest Service.”
Although the Krishnas claim on their Web site to be one of the largest vegetarian food relief organizations through a sister agency called “Food for Life,” it’s not clear that any money or food relief is being returned
to Sedona from the money
made by the monks at the trailheads.
“This is a very sensitive point, and while we broadly support other agencies and their efforts in food relief, we have to take a step back from offering any actual funding or offering of food due to our strict principles and traditions,” said Vineet Chander, director of communications for ISKC in New Jersey.
At a minimum, Krishnas are required to be lacto-vegeterians, and frequently are vegans, eschewing every sort of dairy product, according to Chander.
“There are prayers and ritual cleanliness which we are required to perform and which preclude us from joining efforts with any other agency that does not share the same beliefs,” Chander
said.

Susan Johnson can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 129 or e-mail sjohnson@larsonnewspapers.com