> One example stems from the Hindu ritual of "aarti", where devotees offer light from oil lamps in rhythmic circular movements before murtis while reciting chants and hymns. At the 2017 Ganpati festival, organisers used a robotic arm to perform aarti for the Hindu god Ganesha. You can even buy inexpensive robotic murti and puja devices to automatically perform rituals in your home. For instance, the Irinjadappilly Sri Krishna Temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala, houses a robotic elephant named Irinjadapilly Raman. "It performs rituals, accepts offerings and gives blessings just like a live temple elephant would," Walters says. Then there's the Glory of India Temple in Delhi, part of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), which introduced fully animatronic mutris as far back as ten years ago. "These robotic deities talk and move. It's a bit uncanny from what I have seen, honestly, but for many, it's God. They do puja, they receive darshan," Walters says.

Deus ex machina, indeed.