AI-built virtual Buddhist temple draws 1 mil. visitors in less than a week

Sansa, an AI-created virtual Buddhist temple launched online on Oct. 26, drew more than 1 million visits in less than a week. Park Jin-won, a 26-year-old job seeker, created the space so people could visit a temple through their phones. Users can control a child-monk avatar, pray, perform Buddhist bows, roll prayer beads and strike a moktak. Its rapid growth strained the server and inspired suggestions for new features and similar virtual spaces.

Park graduated from university with a degree in English literature and said the effort required to visit a physical temple inspired the project.

More than 10,000 people visited Sansa on its first day, and Park raised its simultaneous-user capacity from 20 to 10,000.

By Oct. 31, five days after launch, Sansa had recorded more than 900,000 cumulative visits.

A new feature lets users support the project by offering rice, drawing on the Buddhist practice of donating rice to temples.

Users suggested adding virtual tapdori, walking around a pagoda, and an option for a monk avatar to strike users with a jukbi used in Zen meditation.

Published Nov 3, 2026 4:42 pm KST

The main prayer hall of the digital Buddhist temple Sansa, launched Oct. 26, features a child-monk avatar that can put its palms together in prayer or perform bows. Captured from Sansa website

"I don't have the energy to actually go to a temple. So I just sit here for a little while before leaving."

A virtual Buddhist temple created with artificial intelligence (AI) by a 26-year-old Korean job seeker has become an unexpected online hit, drawing more than 1 million visitors less than a week after its launch.

Called "Sansa," the digital space lets users control a child-monk avatar that can put its palms together in prayer or perform Buddhist bows. Visitors can also use their mouse to roll prayer beads or strike a moktak, a wooden percussion instrument used in Korean Buddhist rituals.

Sansa was launched on Oct. 26 by Park Jin-won, 26, who is looking for a job after graduating from university with a degree in English literature.

"There are days when I feel like it would be nice to go to a temple, but actually going requires you to make an effort," Park said.

That thought inspired the creation of an AI-powered Buddhist temple that people could enter through their phones.

Since the launch, Park has been sharing Sansa's visitor numbers and updates to the virtual temple on social media. A feature has also been introduced allowing users to support the project through an offering of rice, drawing on the traditional Buddhist practice of donating rice to temples.

Visitors to the digital Buddhist temple Sansa can strike a moktak, a wooden percussion instrument used in Buddhist rituals, or count prayer beads. Captured from Sansa website

The response was immediate.

More than 10,000 people visited Sansa on its first day, quickly putting its server under strain. Park increased its simultaneous user capacity from just 20 people to 10,000 and has since been working intensively to stabilize the service.

By Oct. 31, just five days after its launch, Sansa had recorded more than 900,000 cumulative visits. It subsequently passed the 1 million mark.

Users have also flooded Park with suggestions for new features, including a virtual version of "tapdori," the Buddhist practice of walking around a pagoda, and an option for a monk to strike users with a jukbi, a bamboo stick traditionally used in Zen meditation.

The online experience "Riverside Camp" lets users enjoy the feeling of sitting by a river, tending a campfire and roasting sweet potatoes. Captured from the Riverside Camp website

Sansa's viral success has already inspired a wave of similar virtual spaces.

Online-only Catholic churches and Protestant churches have appeared, along with less spiritual destinations where users can virtually board a plane and eat an in-flight meal, visit a sauna or hot spring, camp outdoors or even explore a coal mine.

The trend has drawn attention to how generative AI is allowing individuals to rapidly turn simple but imaginative ideas into interactive online experiences.

"All they did was take the act of visiting a temple, something people normally do offline, and move it online, but that captured people's interest," one social media user said. "It seems you don't have to create some grand service to attract people."

Another said, "We've entered an era where you can sit in your room and experience all kinds of healing through a single web browser."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

10月26日上线的人工智能虚拟佛寺“Sansa”在短短一周内就吸引了超过100万次访问。26岁的求职者朴镇元（音译）创建了这个虚拟空间，让人们可以通过手机“参观”佛寺。用户可以操控一个孩童僧侣的虚拟形象，进行祈祷、鞠躬、捻念珠和敲击佛牌等操作。Sansa的迅速增长给服务器带来了压力，同时也激发了人们对新功能和类似虚拟空间的开发建议。

朴女士大学毕业于英国文学专业，她说，参观一座实体寺庙所需的努力激发了她创作这个项目的灵感。

Sansa 开业首日访问量超过 10,000 人次，Park 将其同时在线用户容量从 20 人次提升至 10,000 人次。

截至 10 月 31 日，也就是上线五天后，Sansa 的累计访问量已超过 90 万次。

一项新功能允许用户通过捐赠大米来支持该项目，借鉴了佛教向寺庙捐赠大米的做法。

用户建议添加虚拟的“tapdori”（一种禅宗冥想中常见的动作），例如在宝塔周围行走，以及让僧侣化身用禅宗冥想中使用的“jukbi”（一种禅宗棍）击打用户的选项。

发布于2026年11月3日下午4:42（韩国标准时间）

10月26日上线的数字佛教寺庙Sansa的主祈祷殿内设有一个儿童僧侣虚拟形象，可以双手合十祈祷或行鞠躬礼。图片来自Sansa网站

“我没有精力去寺庙。所以我就在这里坐一会儿，然后就走了。”

一位 26 岁的韩国求职者利用人工智能 (AI) 创建了一个虚拟佛教寺庙，出人意料地在网上爆红，上线不到一周就吸引了超过 100 万访客。

这个名为“Sansa”的数字空间允许用户控制一个儿童僧侣的虚拟形象，该形象可以双手合十祈祷或行佛教鞠躬礼。访客还可以使用鼠标滚动念珠或敲击木槌（一种用于韩国佛教仪式的木制打击乐器）。

Sansa 由 26 岁的朴镇元 (Park Jin-won) 于 10 月 26 日创办，他大学毕业后获得了英语文学学位，目前正在寻找工作。

“有时候我觉得去寺庙会很好，但实际上去寺庙需要付出努力，”朴女士说。

这个想法启发了人工智能驱动的佛教寺庙的创建，人们可以通过手机进入寺庙。

自上线以来，朴女士一直在社交媒体上分享Sansa的访客数量和虚拟寺庙的最新动态。此外，该项目还新增了一项功能，允许用户通过供养大米来支持，这借鉴了佛教向寺庙捐赠大米的传统习俗。

在数字佛教寺庙 Sansa 中，游客可以敲击木屐（一种用于佛教仪式的木制打击乐器），或者数念珠。图片来自 Sansa 网站

回应立竿见影。

Sansa上线首日访问量就超过1万人，服务器迅速不堪重负。Park将同时在线用户容量从20人提升至1万人，并一直在积极努力稳定服务。

截至10月31日，Sansa上线仅五天后，累计访问量就超过了90万次。随后，访问量突破了100万大关。

用户还向 Park 提出了大量新功能建议，包括虚拟版的“tapdori”（佛教绕塔行走的修行方式），以及让僧侣用竹棍（禅宗冥想中传统使用的竹棍）击打用户的选项。

“河畔营地”线上体验让用户仿佛置身河边，围着篝火烤红薯，享受惬意时光。（摘自“河畔营地”网站）

Sansa 的病毒式成功已经激发了一波类似的虚拟空间的出现。

仅提供在线服务的天主教教堂和新教教堂已经出现，同时还有一些精神性较弱的目的地，用户可以在这些地方虚拟登机并享用机上餐食、参观桑拿浴室或温泉、户外露营，甚至探索煤矿。

这一趋势引起了人们的关注，即生成式人工智能如何使个人能够迅速将简单但富有想象力的想法转化为交互式在线体验。

一位社交媒体用户表示：“他们只不过把人们通常在线下进行的参拜寺庙的行为搬到了线上，却吸引了人们的兴趣。看来，你并不需要打造什么宏大的服务才能吸引人们。”

另一位网友说：“我们已经进入了一个时代，你可以坐在房间里，通过一个网络浏览器体验各种各样的疗愈方式。”

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。