A 3D online Buddhist temple called Sansa, built by a South Korean solo developer known as "메타몽," has gone viral on Threads. In a post on Oct. 29, the developer said the website drew about 12,000 visitors within roughly a day of being completed, causing the server to fail. Later that night, he said daily connections had reached 100,000.
According to Korea’s Nongmin Sinmun, the developer’s Threads account is metamong.dev. The name "메타몽" is the Korean name for Ditto from Pokémon. Early on the morning of Oct. 30, the site showed that the hall called Cheongyeondang had 4,679 users online. That hall was split into 100 servers, each with a maximum of 100 people, and five of those servers were already full.
Capacity was raised from 20 people to 10,000
As traffic came in far above what the developer expected, he increased server capacity from 20 people to 100, then 1,200, and eventually 10,000. Nongmin Sinmun reported that the site started with only 20 seats. Users can now choose from 100 channels before entering.
The developer apologized for the server issues and said he would improve features by taking user feedback into account.
No app install is required
Users can enter from a phone or computer browser without installing software. After choosing a hall, the system automatically assigns a name to each novice monk avatar. Examples cited in the report included "느긋한 구름" and "은은한 달빛," which mean "relaxed cloud" and "soft moonlight."
Nongmin Sinmun said the bottom of the screen includes three buttons: palms together, bow, and prayer beads. A "listen to chanting" button at the top plays Buddhist chanting. Users can walk around inside the hall or sit on a cushion, though each cushion can only be occupied by one person.
The background audio includes a recitation of the Heart Sutra and natural ambient sounds. Users can also simply sit still and do nothing.
No chat inside the same hall
The website does not include a chat function. In introducing the service, the developer wrote, "You can sit together, but you can’t talk." When another user performs a palms-together greeting, a notification appears on screen saying "합장으로 인사했어요," meaning "greeted you with palms together."
The site describes itself as an "online Buddhist temple where people sit together without talking." When the service was first made public, the developer said, "Some days, going to a temple sounds nice, but actually going takes energy." He also said people who do not have the energy to visit a temple can stop by briefly, adding that it is fine to "bow once, turn the prayer beads once, and leave."
User comments pointed to a quiet, non-interactive space
Money Today reported that users were drawn to a space that did not require activity or interaction. One comment said, "I stopped by on my way to work to calm myself down. It was my first time going to a temple." Another said, "I’m not religious, but I feel a bit more settled physically and mentally, and I feel good." One user described themselves as a "capital I," referring to an introverted personality, and said they could sit right at the front here.
What is publicly known about the service
Based on the information available in the source, Sansa is a 3D web-based Buddhist temple service. Users appear as novice monks and can bow, greet with palms together, and use prayer beads. Each server can host up to 100 people, and chat is not available.
On traffic and outages, the developer said the site drew about 12,000 users within roughly a day of launch, which caused a server failure, and later said daily connections reached 100,000. Capacity was then expanded step by step from 20 to 10,000.
