Kyaung

A kyaung (Burmese: ဘုန်းကြီးကျောင်း [pʰóʊɴdʑí tɕáʊɴ], often shortened to ကျောင်း) is a Burmese Buddhist monastery (vihara), comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Buddhist monks. Burmese kyaungs are sometimes also occupied by novice monks (samanera), lay attendants (kappiya), nuns, and young boys observing the Five Precepts (phothudaw).Kyaungs are typically built of wood, meaning that few historical monasteries built before the 1800s are extant.

The kyaung has traditionally been the center of village life in Burma, serving as both the educational institution for children and a community center, especially for merit-making activities such as construction of buildings, offering of food to monks and celebration of Buddhist festivals, and observance of uposatha (Buddhist sabbath).

Monasteries are not established by members of the Sangha, but by laymen who donate land or money to support the establishment of a monastery.

The modern Burmese language term kyaung descends from the Old Burmese word kloṅ (က္လောင်). The strong connection between religion and schooling is reflected by fact that the kyaung is the same word now used to refer to secular schools.Kyaung is also used to describe Christian churches, Hindu temples, and Chinese temples. Mosques are an exception, as they use the Hindi-derived word bali (ဗလီ).

In modern-day Myanmar (Burma), kyaungs may be divided into a number of categories, including monastic colleges called sathintaik (စာသင်တိုက်) and remote forest monasteries called tawya kyaung (တောရကျောင်း). Burma's primary monastic university towns are Bago, Pakokku, and Sagaing.

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