Mahādvāra Nikāya

Maha Dwara Nikaya (Burmese: မဟာဒွာရနိကာယ, IPA: [məhà dwàɹa̰ nḭkàja̰]); also spelt Maha Dwaya Nikaya or Mahādvāra Nikāya, is a small monastic order of monks in Myanmar (Burma), primarily in Lower Myanmar.^[1] This order is very conservative with respect to Vinaya regulations.^[2] It is one of nine legally sanctioned monastic orders (nikaya) in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations.^[3]

Statistics

Ordained Buddhist monks by monastic order in Myanmar (2016).^[4]

1. Thudhamma Nikaya (87.24%)
2. Shwegyin Nikaya (9.47%)
3. Mahādvāra Nikāya (1.15%)
4. Muladvāra Nikāya (0.72%)
5. Veḷuvan Nikāya (0.7%)
6. Other (0%)

According to 2016 statistics published by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, 6,166 monks belonged to this monastic order, representing 1.15% of all monks in the country, making it the third largest order after Thudhamma and Shwegyin Nikaya.^[4] With respect to geographic representation, the majority are based in Lower Burma, with a sizable plurality of Mahādvāra monks living in Ayeyarwady Region (40.69%), followed by Yangon Region (20.65%), Bago Region (20.61%), and Mon State (9.97%).^[4]

Origins

The founding of Maha Dwara Nikaya was inspired by nikaya reforms in Sri Lanka during the 19th century.^[1] This Nikaya was founded in 1855, over disputes with the Thudhamma Nikaya on the constitution of a sīmā (သိမ် or thein in Burmese), a formal boundary in which Buddhist religious ceremonies (including ordination of Sangha) occur.^[2]

In 1900 and 1918, two other groups, the Anaukchaung Dwara (အနောက်ချောင်းဒွာရ) and Mula Dwara (မူလဒွာရ; Mūladvāra) respectively, separated from the Maha Dwara Nikaya over leadership disputes.^[2]