Grounded in the canon
Trained on Buddhist primary sources in their original languages, with retrieval back to the text. Answers cite passages; users can read the underlying material themselves.
Buddha AI · Product
An AI grounded in the source texts.
Buddha AI is a multilingual model built on Buddhist primary sources, contracted by the Lumbini Development Trust as part of the digital infrastructure of the city. Pilgrims, scholars and monastic institutions ask it questions; it answers from the canon, in the language they asked in, with citations back to the source.
The product
Three things at once.
Multilingual by default
Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Sinhala at launch. The user asks in their language; the model answers in it.
Sovereign-contracted
Built under contract with the Lumbini Development Trust, the institution that operates the site. Not a side project. Not a demo.
Users
Four audiences, one model.
On-site
Pilgrims at Lumbini
Arrival, navigation, language, ritual context, practical questions. The model answers in the visitor's own language, on their own phone.
Academic
Scholars and researchers
A working tool for textual research across the canon. Cross-language search, primary-source retrieval, citation chains.
Sangha
Monastic institutions
A reference for monasteries, dharma centres and teaching institutions. Source-grounded, traceable, designed to support teaching rather than replace it.
Global
The Buddhist diaspora online
Practitioners outside any institutional setting who want a serious answer in their language. The model is built to give one.
Technical
Short version, on the record.
The training corpus is built from primary Buddhist texts in their canonical languages alongside curated commentarial material, with provenance tracked at the document level. Retrieval is grounded against the corpus rather than freely generative; the model is constrained to cite back. Languages supported at launch: Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Sinhala. The model is hosted on HSV compute in Nepal. Further architectural detail is available to qualified counterparties on request.
Roadmap
What we're shipping next.
API access
A managed API for partner institutions. Universities, monasteries, pilgrimage operators and research groups can integrate Buddha AI directly into their own surfaces.
Partner integrations
Drop-in support for the platforms already used by the institutions we work with, starting with the Lumbini Platform itself.
Visitor app
A dedicated mobile surface for pilgrims arriving on site. Wayfinding, language, ritual context, and the model in their pocket while they walk.
Early access
Institutional partners, write in.
Universities, monastic institutions, pilgrimage operators and research groups can request early API access. We respond within a week.