Robots are performing Hindu rituals — some devotees fear they’ll replace worshippers

In 2017, a <a href="https://patilautomation.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">technology firm in India</a> introduced a robotic arm to perform “aarti,” a ritual in which a devotee offers an oil lamp to the deity to symbolize the removal of darkness. This particular robot was unveiled at the Ganpati festival, a yearly gathering of millions of people in which an icon of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is taken out in a procession and immersed in the Mula-Mutha river in Pune in central India. Ever since, that robotic aarti arm has inspired several prototypes, a <a href="https://www.monarch-innovation.com/ganesh-aarti-with-robotic-arm-technology/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">few of which</a> continue to regularly perform the ritual <a href="https://www.deccanchronicle.com/technology/in-other-news/140918/techno-artistic-ganesha-watch-lord-ganesha-levitate-robot-conduct-aa.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">across India today</a>, along with a variety of other religious robots <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rrcs/7/1/article-p120_120.xml?language=en" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">throughout East Asia</a> and <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-cow-in-the-elevator" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">South Asia</a>. Robotic rituals even now include <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/kerala-temple-elephant-robot-peta-b2291054.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">an animatronic temple elephant</a> in Kerala on India’s southern coast. <a href="https://medium.com/the-conversation/robots-are-performing-hindu-rituals-some-devotees-fear-theyll-replace-worshippers-790b8dc73f75">Website</a>