Gandhara

Gandhara (ガンダーラ) is a Buddhist pacifist organization that is participating in the Shaman Fight. Led by Sati Saigan, they are the third great faction in the tournament and aim to prevent Asakura Hao from becoming the Shaman King.

About
Gandhara is one of the oldest known organizations, forming around 500 BC during the Shaman Fight, in which one of their members became Shaman King. Because of this, they have no interest in having one of their group become king again.

In the current Shaman Fight, Gandhara has participated to save all of humanity and prevent Hao from becoming the Shaman King, who plans to rid the world of all non-shamans. To this end, they have fielded three teams, all of which have made the top eight. They identify and train the Five Elemental Warriors to wield the Five Grand Elemental Spirits in order for the five to defeat Hao while he is integrating with the Great Spirit. To that end, their members also enter Hell to recover the four Grand Elemental Spirits hidden there.

All the members of the Gandhara are Kami-class Shamans and are incredibly powerful. All their Guardian Ghosts are those of Bodhisattvas, in a strict adherence to their faith, and in order to control these powerful spirits, the members have undergone training in Hell. They all possess Furyoku-nullification abilities, which enable them to defeat most opponents without using violence. Ryu once said that Lady Sati was as strong as Hao.

As a Buddhist organization, Gandhara is a pacifist by nature. They are completely neutral in outlook, and are described as the 'middle way' between the two extremes of the X-Laws and Asakura Hao. However, they also will not hesitate to use force when needed, though they use it only as a last resort and even then just enough to meet their objectives.

Anime/Manga Difference
In the manga series, the group contains eleven members: Lady Sati, Daiei, Komeri, Kado, Jackson, Yainage, Mamy, Samy, Ozam, Sei-Kyow, and Aeon Lee. They also do not appear in the 2001 anime adaptation.

Trivia

 * All of their Guardian ghosts are based upon Buddhist gods and beings.
 * Their names are derived from Japanese supermarket chains.
 * Lady Sati - SATY supermarket
 * Komeri - Komeri Co., Ltd.
 * Daiei - The Daiei,Inc.
 * Jackson - JUSCO
 * Yainage - Inageya supermarket
 * Kado - Ito-Yokado
 * Seikyou - Japanese term for Consumer co-op
 * Ion Li - AEON MALL Co., Ltd.
 * Mamy - Mammy Mart Corporation
 * Samy - Summit, INC.
 * Ozam - OZAM Co., Ltd.
 * In the manga series, it was shown that Aeon Lee and Sei-Kyow were apart of Team "Deva" with Samy; however, it was later retconned and Aeon and Sei-Kyow were replaced with Ozam and Mamy.