Shwegyin Nikaya

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
Shwegyin Nikaya
ရွှေကျင်နိကာယ
AbbreviationShwegyin
Formation2 July 1860
TypeBuddhist monastic order
HeadquartersMyanmar
Members50,692 (2016)
Leader H.H Sitagu Sayadaw Bhaddanta Ñāṇissara, Soḷasama (16th) Shwegyin Thathanabaing
Key people
Shwegyin Sayadaw U Jāgara
In February 2012, one thousand Buddhist monks and followers gathered for the eighteenth annual Shwekyin Nikaya Conference at the compound of Dhammaduta Zetawon Tawya Monastery in Hmawbi Township, Yangon Region.
Part of a series on
Theravāda Buddhism
Dharmachakra
Buddhism
History
Key figures
  • Early figures & classical commentators:
  • Medieval & monastic reformers:
  • Modern scholars & reformers:
  • Western & international figures:
Literature
Authoritative commentaries
Treatises
  • Abhidhamma & meditation manuals:
  • Grammar manuals:
Protective texts
  • Common:
  • Esoteric:
Historical literature
Main teachings
  • Practices
  • Traditions
  • Scriptural study:
  • Oral traditions:
  • Rituals and ceremonies:
  • Meditation:
  • Forest traditions:
  • Cultural practices:
  • Other traditions/movements:
  • Roles
  • Titles
Orders (Nikāya or Gaṇa)
Thailand, Cambodia
Myanmar
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Laos
Festivals
  • Cultural/folk with Buddhist significance:
Higher education
Organizations

Shwegyin Nikāya (Burmese: ရွှေကျင်နိကာယ, MLCTS: Hrwekyang Ni.kaya., IPA: [ʃwèdʑɪ́ɰ̃ nḭkàja̰]; also spelt Shwekyin Nikāya) is the second largest monastic order of monks in Burma.[1] It is one of the nine legally sanctioned monastic orders (Pali: gaṇa) in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations.[2]

Statistics

[edit]
Ordained Buddhist monks by monastic order in Myanmar (2016).[3]
  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 Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, 50,692 monks belonged to this monastic order, representing 9.47% of all monks in the country, making it the second largest order after Sudhammā.[4] With respect to geographic representation, the plurality of Shwegyin monks live in Yangon Region (23.66%), followed by Sagaing Region (17.47%), Bago Region (16.58%), and Mandalay Region (13.98%).[4] In 2016, the order had 3,608 monasteries, representing 6% of the country's monasteries.[5]

Doctrine

[edit]

Shwegyin Nikaya is a more orthodox order than Thudhamma Gaing, with respect to adherence to the Vinaya,[6] and its leadership is more centralised and hierarchical.[7]

Leadership

[edit]

Shwegyin Nikaya is led by a Thathanabaing with the title Shwegyin Thathanabaing[8] Shwegyin Nikāyādhipati Ukkaṭṭha Mahā Nāyaka Dhammasenāpati (ရွှေကျင်သာသနာပိုင် ရွှေကျင်နိကာယာဓိပတိဥက္ကဋ္ဌ မဟာနာယကဓမ္မသေနာပတိ)[9] whose authority on doctrine and religious practice is considered absolute.[10] Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Ñānissara is the incumbent Shwegyin Thathanabaing.[9]

The Thathanabaing is assisted by four Associate Thathanabaings[11] with the title Associate Shwegyin Thathanabaing Shwegyin Nikāya Upa Ukkaṭṭha Mahā Nāyaka (ရွှေကျင်သာသနာပိုင် ရွှေကျင်နိကာယ ဥပဥက္ကဋ္ဌ မဟာနာယက)[12]: 20  Currently, the Rector Sayadaw Ashin Nandamālābhivaṁsa is the only surviving one, among the four Associate Shwegyin Thathanabaings appointed in 2018.[13]

History

[edit]

The sect was founded in 1860 by Ashin Zagara, a chief abbot monk in the village of Shwegyin (translated into English as Gold or Suvaṇṇa into Pāḷi); hence, its name.[10] It formally separated from the Thudhamma Gaing during the reign of King Mindon Min, and attempts to reconcile the two sects by the last king of Burma, Thibaw Min, were unsuccessful.[1]

The Shwegyin sect emerged as a response to King Mindon’s centralised control over the Sangha via the Thudhamma Council.[14] After clashing with Saṃgha authorities, the Shwegyin Sayadaw secured royal approval to remain independent from the Thathanabaing of Burma and Thudhamma Council.[15] King Thibaw offered the Shwegyin Sayadaw the title of Thathanabaing[16]: 86  in parallel to that of the Thathanabaing of Burma of Thudhamma Gaing. Known for their strict adherence to Vinaya, Shwegyin monks distinguished themselves from the more lenient Thudhamma majority, reflecting broader religious divisions shaped by colonial influence.[15]

Under British colonial rule, the group gradually formalised its structure to preserve its identity amid the loss of monarchical support.[17] By 1920, the Shwegyin monks held their first official meeting, asserting their autonomy while still recognising the Thudhamma Council.[17] They established their own administrative system, court, monk registry, and historical records.[17] Their leader, the Shwegyin Thathanabaing, functioned similarly to the Thathanabaing of Thudhamma Council, overseeing organisation, discipline, and doctrinal matters, effectively creating an independent, self-governing monastic body.[17]

Monks of the order did not participate in the nationalist and anti-colonial movement in British Burma of the early 1900s. In the 1960s, with the ascent of Ne Win to power, the order gained monastic influence in the country, as Ne Win sought counsel from a monk at the Mahagandayon Monastery, a Shwegyin monastery in Amarapura.[18] During the 2021 Myanmar protests, the order urged Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to immediately cease the assaults on unarmed civilians and to refrain from engaging in theft and property destruction.[19][20] Its leading monks reminded the Senior General to be a good Buddhist,[19] which entailed keeping to the Five Precepts required for at least a human rebirth.[a]

List of Shwegyin Thathanabaings

[edit]

The following are the Sayadaws who have served as the Shwegyin Thathanabaing[8] (Shwegyin Gaṇādhipati/ Shwegyin Nikāyādhipati Ukkaṭṭha Mahā Nāyaka) from the time of King Mindon.[22][23]: 30 

Serial number Title Popular name Monk name Start of duty End of duty
Paṭhama
(First) 		Shwegyin Thathanabaing, Shwegyin Gaṇasamuṭṭhāpaka Shwegyin Sayadaw Bhaddanta Jāgara 1868 1893
Dutiya
(Second) 		Shwegyin Thathanabaing, Shwegyin Nikāyādhipati Ukkaṭṭha Mahā Nāyaka Dhammasenāpati Mahāvisuddhārāma Sayadaw Bhaddanta Visuddhācāra 1894 1916
Tatiya
(Third) 		Kyaikkasan Sayadaw Bhaddanta Uttama 1916 1917
Dipeyin Sayadaw Bhaddanta Ñānavara 1927
Catuttha
(Fourth) 		Alon Sayadaw Bhaddanta Tissa 1917 1928
Pañcama
(Fifth) 		Chanthagyi Sayadaw Bhaddanta Jalinda 1929 1932
Chaṭṭhama
(Sixth) 		Hladawgyi Sayadaw Bhaddanta Rājinda a.k.a. Rādha 1933 1934
Sattama
(Seventh) 		Kyaiklat Pacchimāyon Sayadaw Bhaddanta Kolāsa 1934 1949
Aṭṭhama
(Eighth) 		Kanni Sayadaw Bhaddanta Kosalla 1949 1950
Navama
(Nine) 		Sangin Sayadaw Bhaddanta Candābhivaṃsa 1951 1972
Dasama
(Tenth) 		Myaungmya Sayadaw Bhaddanta Ñānābhivaṃsa 1973 1975
Ekādasama
(Eleventh) 		Kyemyin Sayadaw Bhaddanta Jotayābhivaṃsa 1976 1989
Dvādasama
(Twelfth) 		Shwehintha Sayadaw Bhaddanta Panḍitasīri 1990 1995
Terasama
(Thirteenth) 		Nyaungshwe Kangyi Sayadaw Bhaddanta Vimalābhivaṃsa 1996 2003
Cuddasama
(Fourteenth) 		Wazo Sayadaw Bhaddanta Agghiya 2004 2016
Pannarasama
(Fifteenth) 		Vijjotāyon Sayadaw Bhaddanta Vijjota 2017 2021
Soḷasama
(Sixteenth) 		Sītagū Sayadaw Bhaddanta Ñāṇissara 2021 To this day

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ This letter, released in March, gained notoriety for the discrepancies between its signed original draft and its final version, the latter which appears to have legitimized Min Aung Hlaing's rule through a veiled reference to him as king.[21] The Burmese word for 'king', min (Burmese: မင်း, MLCTS: mang:), coincides with the first syllable of the general's name,[21] even in the Burmese script.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Shwegyin Nikaya". Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  2. ^ 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 March 14, 2012.
  3. ^ "The Account of Wazo Samgha of All Sect, M.E 1377 (2016)". The State Samgha Maha Nayaka Committee. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
  4. ^ a b "The Account of Wazo Samgha of All Sect, M.E 1377 (2016)". The State Samgha Maha Nayaka Committee. 2016. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
  5. ^ "The Account Monasteries of All-Sect in 1377 (2016)". The State Samgha Maha Nayaka Committee. 2016. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
  6. ^ Aung-Thwin, Michael (2009). "Of Monarchs, Monks, and Men: Religion and the State in Myanmar" (PDF). Working Paper Series No. 127 (18). Asia Research Institute.
  7. ^ Jordt, Ingrid (2007). Burma's mass lay meditation movement. Ohio University Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-89680-255-1.
  8. ^ a b "ရွှေကျင်သာသနာပိုင်များ" [Shwegyin Thathanabaings]. BBC. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  9. ^ a b "သီတဂူဆရာတော်ကြီးအား သောဠသမ ရွှေကျင်သာသနာပိုင် ဘွဲ့တံဆိပ်တော်များ အဆောင်ယောင်များကို ရွှေကျင်နိကာယဂိုဏ်းလုံးဝန်ဆောင် အကျိုးတော်ဆောင် ဆရာတော်များက လာရောက် ဆက်ကပ်ခြင်း" [The offering of Soḷasama Shwegyin Thathanabaing title insignias to the Sitagu Sayadawgyi by the Shwegyin Nikāya whole-sect seceretary Sayadaws]. Sitagu International Buddhist Missionary Association. 29 August 2025. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "မှော်ဘီမြို့နယ် အောက်ဝါးနက်ချောင်းကျေးရွာ ဓမ္မဒူတဇေတဝန်တောရ ဆေကိန္ဒာရာမကျောင်းတိုက်တွင် ဇန်နဝါရီ ၃၁ ရက်က ကျင်းပခဲ့သည့်အကြိမ် (၂၀) မြောက် ဗုဒ္ဓသာသနာတော်လုံးဆိုင်ရာ ရွှေကျင်နိကာယသံဃာ့အစည်းအဝေးကို တွေ့ရစဉ်". Eleven Media Group (in Burmese). 22 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  12. ^ ဓမ္မဃောသကဦးမောင်မောင် (March 1989). နိုင်ငံတော်အသိအမှတ်ပြုသံဃာ့ဂိုဏ်းကြီးကိုးဂိုဏ်းအကြောင်း [About The State Recognized Nine Major Sects of Saṃghā] (in Burmese). Rangoon: စိန်ပန်းမြိုင်စာပေတိုက်. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  13. ^ "ရွှေကျင်ဂိုဏ်း- တွဲဖက်သာသနာပိုင် စည်ရှင်ဆရာတော်ကြီးပျံလွန်တော်မူ" [Shwegyin Sect - Associate Thathanabaing Sishin Sayadawgyi has passed away]. BBC. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  14. ^ James, Helen (2005). Governance and civil society in Myanmar: education, health, and environment. Psychology Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-415-35558-2.
  15. ^ a b Schober, Juliane (2010-11-30), Schober, Juliane (ed.), "Theravada Cultural Hegemony in Precolonial Burma", Modern Buddhist Conjunctures in Myanmar: Cultural Narratives, Colonial Legacies, and Civil Society, University of Hawai'i Press, p. 0, doi:10.21313/hawaii/9780824833824.003.0002, ISBN 978-0-8248-3382-4, retrieved 2025-05-11
  16. ^ Mahāvisuddhārāma Sayadaw (2013). ရွှေကျင်ဝံသာနုရက္ခိတကျမ်း [Shwegyin Vaṃsānurakkhita Treatise] (PDF) (in Burmese). Mandalay: Shwegyin Nikaya Literature Preservation Group.
  17. ^ a b c d James, Helen (2005). Governance and civil society in Myanmar: education, health, and environment. Psychology Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-415-35558-2.
  18. ^ Matthews, Bruce; Judith A. Nagata (1986). Religion, values, and development in Southeast Asia. Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 61. ISBN 9789971988203.
  19. ^ a b "Criticized, Myanmar's Influential Monk Close to Coup Leader Breaks Silence on Killing Protesters". Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  20. ^ "From Petty Crimes to Atrocities, Myanmar's Junta Rules through Lawlessness". Myanmar Now. 2021-04-28.
  21. ^ a b "The 4th Point". Insight Myanmar. 2021-03-16.
  22. ^ ကထိကရဟန်း (ဥုးမာနိတသိရီဘိဝံသ) (2020). ရွှေကျင်ဂိုဏ်းသမိုင်း (အတွဲ ၁ + ၂ + ၃ + ၄) [Shwegyin Sect History (Volume 1 + 2 + 3 + 4)] (in Burmese). Mandalay: Shwegyin Nikaya Literature Preservation Group.
  23. ^ Dr. Than Tun (2018). ရွှေကျင်နိကာယသမိုင်း [Shwegyin Nikāya History] (PDF) (in Burmese). Mandalay: Shwegyin Nikaya Literature Preservation Group.