Kudo Gaing

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The Gaṇavimut Kudo Gaing (ဂဏဝိမုတ်ကူးတို့ဂိုဏ်း), also known as Kudo Gaing (ကူးတို့ဂိုဏ်း), is one of the monastic orders of the Sangha in Buddhism in Myanmar. According to the 1990 Sangha Organizations Law, this order is one of the nine legally recognized monastic orders in the country.[1] The order was founded in 1258 of the Burmese Era (approximately 1896–1897 CE) as a splinter from the Sudhammā order, primarily due to a desire to be free from administrative assignments.[2][3]

Gaṇavimut Kudo Sect
ဂဏဝိမုတ်ကူးတို့ဂိုဏ်း
Abbreviationကူးတို့ဂိုဏ်း (Kudo Sect)
Formation1896
TypeBuddhist monastic order
HeadquartersMyanmar
Members927 (2016)

Statistics

[edit]
Ordained Buddhist monks by monastic order in Myanmar (2016).[4]
  1. Thudhamma 467,025 (87.3%)
  2. Shwegyin 50,692 (9.47%)
  3. Mahādvāra 6,066 (1.13%)
  4. Mūladvāra 3,872 (0.72%)
  5. Veḷuvan 3,732 (0.70%)
  6. Hngettwin 1,445 (0.27%)
  7. Kudo 927 (0.17%)
  8. Mahāyin 823 (0.15%)
  9. Anaukchaung 645 (0.12%)

According to 2016 statistics published by the State Samgha Maha Nayaka Committee, 927 monks belonged to this monastic order, representing 0.17% of all monks in the country.

Origins

[edit]

In the late 19th century, Sayadaw U Ukkuṇḍavaṃsa from Kudo (ကူးတို့, ALA-LC: Kūḥtui.) Village in Dawei Township was practicing the Dhamma in seclusion in the forest. Because he was frequently summoned by leaders, overseers, and supporters of the Sudhammā order, he later submitted a formal request to the Thathanabaing (Leader of the Sāsana; similar to a Sangharaja) of the Sudhammā order in Mandalay to be released from such duties. In 1258 of the Burmese Era (approximately 1896–1897 CE), the Thathanabaing Pakhan Sayadaw issued an official decree stating that the Sayadaws of that forest monastery could no longer be assigned such tasks, granting them the status of "Free from the Sudhammā group," which came to be called "Gaṇavimutti" (gaṇa = group/sect; vimutti = liberation). Thus, the lineage of disciples of this senior Sayadaw became known as the 'Gaṇavimut Kudo' group, meaning the members of the Sangha who were disciples of the senior Sayadaw of Kudo Village and free from the Sudhammā group.[2][3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Gutter, Peter (2001). "Law and Religion in Burma" (PDF). Legal Issues on Burma Journal (8). Burma Legal Council: 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b Carbine, Jason A. (2011). Sons of the Buddha: Continuities and Ruptures in a Burmese Monastic Tradition. Vol. 50. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-025409-9.
  3. ^ a b "မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ သံဃာ့ဂိုဏ်းကွဲများ" (in Burmese). The Tanintharyi Times. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  4. ^ "The Account of Wazo Samgha of All Sect, M.E 1377 (2016)". The State Samgha Maha Nayaka Committee. Retrieved 19 October 2025.