A humorous robot began reading Buddhist scriptures to believers at the 400-year-old Kodai-ji Temple in Kyoto earlier this year.

The robot consists of a housing with moving metal parts, and the body, hands and shoulders of android are made of silicone. Android represents Kannon, an archetypal Buddhist deity who embodies mercy. Monks from the temple say that the bodhisattva robot will become increasingly “wise.”

“This robot will never die, it will just be updated and developed. This is the beauty of work. It can store knowledge forever and infinitely”, – said senior monk Tensho Goto.

Kannon’s development work has cost nearly one million dollars. This project is being implemented by Temple and Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor of robotics at the University of Osaka.