Robot Monk Preaching Buddhism at Beijing Temple

In a bid to attract new-age followers towards the faith, Longquan Buddhist temple located on the outskirts of Beijing has developed a monk robot named Xian’er.

The robot stands just 2 feet tall and is dressed in a yellow robe. Apparently, the ‘Buddha Bot’ has a considerable fan following as it continues to fascinate the locals.

Apart from chanting Buddhist music, the robot can also ask fundamental questions like ‘Who are you’? ‘How old are you’? Further, it can answer simple questions and can sense its surroundings as well.

This is not the first out of the box initiative from the Longquan Temple. Last year in October, the temple also published a cartoon series by the name of ‘Trouble, you seek for yourself’.

Master Xianfan, who is also an in charge of the temple’s animation group, is the man behind this pudgy robot monk. He claims that this initiative is towards promoting Buddhism through a modern approach.

The robot has been garnering a lot of popularity and visitors have also expressed their desire to buy one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piofc-M7gJs

But Master Xianfan claims that Xian’er is one of its kinds and the temple authorities are not aiming to commercialize it. Moreover, the temple’s policy to align technology with Buddhism to rope in young followers on the sacred path.

With a touchscreen attached to its chest, Xian’er is quick in responding to voice commands and can easily chat about the Buddhist lifestyle.

According to Reuters, The robot can answer 20 basic questions about Buddhism and daily life with the help of the attached touchscreen. Whilst the wheels help the robot for moving around in 7 different directions.

Developed by seeking help from artificial intelligence (AI) experts and a tech company, the temple plans to develop an improved version in the coming months.