Terms of service

MyPujas is operated on a volunteer basis as a free service to the Hindu community in Northern Virginia. It is not a registered business. It does not generate revenue, charge fees of any kind, process payments, accept tips or donations, or operate as a commercial entity. The Service exists solely to help families find pandits and help pandits connect with families — at no cost to either party.

By using the Service you acknowledge that:

• MyPujas does not employ, contract with, retain, vouch for, or formally engage any pandit listed on the platform. Pandits are independent practitioners; their listings are a directory, not an endorsement.
• MyPujas is not in the business of providing religious, ceremonial, or officiant services and is not the service provider for any ceremony booked through the platform.
• No transactions occur through MyPujas. Any compensation, dakshina, gifts, or other consideration between a family and a pandit is a private arrangement between the two parties. MyPujas does not facilitate, mediate, or take a share of any such arrangement.
• Verification of pandits on the platform is a best-effort, good-faith review. It is not a professional certification, background check, or guarantee of any kind.

MyPujas is a directory that helps families discover Hindu pandits and send booking requests for in-person ceremonies. We do not perform ceremonies, train pandits, or guarantee any specific outcome from a booking.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. You agree to provide accurate information and to keep it up to date. The closed beta is invite-only — sign-in is gated on an email allowlist, and we may decline to invite anyone for any reason.

You're responsible for activity under your account. If you think someone else has accessed it, sign out of all devices and email founders@mypujas.com immediately.

When a family submits a booking request, the pandit reviews and either accepts or declines. Until the pandit accepts, the family's street address and contact details are not shared. After acceptance, both parties are expected to coordinate directly and conduct themselves professionally and respectfully.

Both parties are expected to honor accepted bookings absent a genuine emergency. If you need to cancel an accepted booking, do so as far in advance as possible and notify the other party directly. Repeated last-minute cancellations or no-shows by either side may result in account suspension.

Pandits represent that they are qualified to perform the ceremonies they offer, that any credentials they upload are accurate, and that they will conduct themselves in line with accepted standards of their tradition. Customers represent that the address provided is accurate and that they will receive the pandit appropriately on the day.

If you are booking a wedding ceremony, you and the pandit are jointly responsible for ensuring the officiant holds the legal credentials required to solemnize a marriage in your state. In Virginia, that typically means a court-issued authorization or registration as a religious officiant. Other states have their own rules.

MyPujas does not verify, certify, or guarantee any pandit's legal authority to perform a marriage. The “ULC ordained” or similar self-disclosure on a pandit's profile is information the pandit provides about themselves; it is not validated by the platform.

Before the day of the ceremony, you should: (a) confirm the credentials directly with the pandit, (b) verify with your local marriage license office that the pandit's credentials satisfy state requirements, and (c) ensure you have any additional civil paperwork (license, witnesses, etc.) needed for the marriage to be legally recognized.

MyPujas is not responsible if a marriage performed through a pandit found via the platform is not legally recognized. The legal validity of any marriage is between you, the pandit, and the relevant civil authority.

Some users are organizations (temples, cultural societies, community groups) and some events on the platform are organized by those organizations or by individual pandits. The same directory framing applies: MyPujas does not sponsor, host, fund, insure, or facilitate any event, and is not a party to any agreement, registration, or arrangement around an event.

Organizers (organizations and pandits who create events) are solely responsible for the events they list — including but not limited to: accuracy of the description, suitability of the venue, safety of attendees, religious and cultural correctness, any food or supplies provided, any legal permits required, and conduct of all participants. Organizers represent that any organization they list is real, that information they provide about it is accurate, and that they have authority to organize on its behalf.

Attendees register at their own risk. Before attending an event, you should independently confirm the event details, the legitimacy of the organizer, and the suitability of the venue. MyPujas does not perform site inspections, does not run background checks on organizers beyond a directory-level review, and does not certify that any event is safe, lawful, or appropriate for you.

Verification of organizations on the platform is a best-effort, good-faith review based on what an applicant submits. It is not a professional certification, an inspection, or a guarantee of the organization's legitimacy or quality. Verification of an event is similarly limited to admin review of the listing for completeness and obvious issues; it does not certify the event itself.

All events on MyPujas are free to register for through the platform. MyPujas does not charge any fee for creating or attending an event, does not collect tickets or donations on behalf of any organizer, and does not process any payments related to events. Any voluntary contribution between an attendee and an organizer is a private matter between them.

Reviews on MyPujas are positive-tag-based and submitted by customers after a completed booking. Reviews must reflect a real, completed booking. We may remove reviews that are fraudulent, off-topic, or that include personal information, harassment, or illegal content.

Don't use the Service to harass, defraud, or harm anyone. Don't scrape the directory, attempt to circumvent the invite gate, attempt to access accounts you don't own, or interfere with the operation of the Service. Don't post or upload content that infringes someone else's rights, contains malware, or is unlawful where the Service is used.

The MyPujas name, logo, and the Service's code and design are owned by us. You retain ownership of content you submit (bio text, ceremony notes, reviews, etc.), and you grant us a limited, royalty-free license to display and process that content as needed to operate the Service.

You can delete your account at any time from your dashboard. Doing so cancels in-flight bookings, scrubs your personal information from your profile, and revokes your beta invite. We may also suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, with or without notice.

Some information may be retained after deletion for record-keeping and legal compliance — for example, an audit log entry may remain to show that the deletion occurred. See the Privacy Policy for details.

The Service is provided strictly “as is” and “as available,” with no warranties of any kind, express or implied. MyPujas does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that any specific pandit will be available, qualified for your specific needs, or perform to your expectations. Verification of pandits is a best-effort, good-faith review — it is not a professional certification, a background check, or a guarantee of any kind.

You agree that your use of the Service is at your own risk. Because MyPujas is a non-commercial volunteer service that charges no fees and processes no payments, you are not entitled to any monetary refund, compensation, or damages from MyPujas. To the fullest extent permitted by law, MyPujas disclaims all liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the Service. MyPujas is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, lost profits, lost data, lost opportunities, spiritual harm, or harm arising from a pandit's conduct or services.

Any disputes you may have about a ceremony itself — including its quality, ritual correctness, timeliness, the conduct of the pandit, payment between you and the pandit, or the legal recognition of a marriage — are between you and the pandit. MyPujas is not a party to those disputes.

If you have a problem with a booking — a no-show, a misunderstanding, anything — first try to resolve it directly with the other party. If that doesn't work, you may email founders@mypujas.com with details. MyPujas may, at its sole discretion and as time permits, attempt to mediate informally. MyPujas is not obligated to mediate, cannot compel either party to do anything, and is not a substitute for a court, arbitrator, or any formal dispute resolution body. Use of any informal mediation does not create any legal duty.

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute that can't be resolved informally will be heard in the state or federal courts located in Virginia, and you consent to that jurisdiction.

If we change these terms in a material way, we'll update the “Last updated” date at the top of the page and notify active users by email. Continued use of the Service after a change means you accept the new terms.

Questions about these terms? Email founders@mypujas.com.