In Jainism, especially in the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjak tradition, “gacch” means a monastic order / lineage. Historically there were many gacchas, but today only a few main ones are active and large.

For the present time, you cannot give a perfectly fixed total number, because:

• Some gacchas have become very small or almost vanished.
• Some are treated as sub‑branches of a bigger gacch.
• Different scholars count them slightly differently.

But in practical day‑to‑day usage today, among Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjaks, the main well‑known gacchas are:

1. Tapā Gacch – largest Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjak order at present.
2. Kharatar Gacch (Kharatara Gaccha).
3. Tristutik (Tristuti/Tristūṭik) Gacch – now small.
4. Āñcala / Añcal (Anchala) Gacch – also quite small.

Apart from these, there are some small or local gacch lineages, so the total number of “existing” gacchas depends on how finely you count.

Important notes:

• Śvetāmbara Sthānakvāsī and Terāpanthī generally do not use the “gacch” system; they have their own separate sampradāy.
• Digambar Jains also do not normally use “gacch” for their orders; they speak more of different saṁpradāy / sangh / traditions, not “gacch”.

So, in short:

• Historically: many gacchas.
• Practically today: a few major active gacchas (mainly 3–4), plus some smaller ones.
• There is no single, universally agreed exact number for “present gacchas”.

You can read a simple explanation of Śvetāmbara gacchas here: