Gyuto Order

Gyuto (also spelled Gyütö or Gyüto) Tantric University is one of the great monastic institutions of the Gelug Order.

Gyuto (Tibetan རྒྱུད་སྟོད་ , Wylie rGyud sTod) was founded in 1475 by Jetsun Kunga Dhondup and is one of the main tantric colleges of the Gelug tradition. In Tibet, monks who had completed their geshe studies would be invited to join Gyuto or Gyume, another tantric institution, to receive a firm grounding in vajrayana practice. Both of these monasteries used to be in Lhasa, Tibet, but they have been re-established in India. At the time of the Chinese invasion in 1950, about 1000 monks were part of the monastery. 60 Gyuto monks fled to India in 1959. After initially gathering in Dalhousie, India, the monastery was established in Tenzing Gang, in Arunachal Pradesh, India. The main monastery is now based in Sidhbara, near Dharamsala, India. Today, there are nearly 500 monks in the entire order. Ramoche Temple in Lhasa was located inside Gyuto Monastery.

The Gyuto monks are known for their tradition of overtone singing, also described as "chordal chanting" which is said to have been transmitted by their founder. It achieved renown in the West following the release of recordings made by David Lewiston in 1974 and in 1986 by Windham Hill Records.

In 1995, a group of Gyuto Monks travelled to the United States and performed during a series of concerts with the Grateful Dead. Under the name "Gyüto Monks Tantric Choir", they appeared on the Mickey Hart/Planet Drum album Supralingua.

In 2003, a group of Gyuto monks performed at the wedding of Australian actress and singer Toni Collette.

In 2008, the monks assisted in the preparations for the five-day visit of the Dalai Lama at the Dome in Sydney Olympic Park. As tantric masters, the monks play a very specific role in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and thus were able to advise on, and carry out, the ritual requirements necessary for the Dalai Lama's program throughout the five days.

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