Hyderabad: The Annual Investiture Meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India(RGL of SI), the conglomeration of South Indian Freemasons will be held here in city at Shilpakala Vedika on February 18th & 19th. It is the biggest Region in India covering 122 Lodges in 52 centres. Hosted jointly by the 18 Lodges of Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Warangal and Kurnool, more than one thousand Freemasons from all over South India and other parts of country are expected to participate in the two day RGL meet being held for the second time in our city in the recent past.

 

Several well known masons from all over India such as MW. Arun Chintopanth and Grand Master elect R.W.Bro. Justice Devender Gupta, who is a retired Chief Justice of Supreme Court; Rt W.Bro. G.K.Selvarajan, the Regional Grand Master of the RGL of Southern India, W. Bro. A.S. Roy and W.Bro. Md. Fuaad Mirza, the Assistant Regional Grand Master and others are expected to participate in the regional meet and will take stock of its activities, review the same and plan for the future.

 

Freemasonry is a 3,000 years old movement spread all over the globe. Freemasonry is one of the world’s oldest secular fraternal societies. It is a world-wide organisation based on the principle of the ‘Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man’. It is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts by series of rituals which follow ancient forms and use stone mason’s customs and tools and allegorical guides. The motto of Freemasonry is Brotherly Love, Relief & Truth.

 

Freemasonry makes good men better, there by makes the world a better place to live in . It has been existing in India for the past 250 years and in twin cities 200 years. History of Freemasonry in twin cities dates back to 1806, when the first lodge Army Lodge came up. According to Bro. J.D.B. Gribble writes in ‘The History of Freemasonry in Hyderabad(Deccan)" that 33rd Regiment stationed here in Hyderabad worked under a Warrant as "Unity and Friendship" granted in the year 1803. It was a mobile lodge. Thus the freemasonry began in Hyderabad with the 33rd Army Regiment Lodge. The Regional Meet besides transacting its regular business also marks the celebration of 200years of Freemasonry in twin cities as it happens to coincide.

 

Globally Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Benjamin Fraklin, Henry Ford, Clive Lloyd and All Presidents of United States of America were its member. In India Swami Vivekananda, C. Rajagopalachari, Motilal Nehru, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, Madhavrao Scindia, Nawab of Pataudi, locally several Nawabs of Nizam, many judges, bureaucrats, officers and well respected individuals and others are its members. Some of them include Nawab Sir Salar Jung Bahadur and Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad(both Prime Ministers of the state of Hyderabad), Sir Terrence Keys(The British Resident), Raja Venkat Ram Reddy to name few from the list of distinguished personalities.

 

St. John’s Lodge was the first Lodge since the year 1892 to meet regularly in Secunderabad area. It comprised of servicemen and men in military barracks in the Cantonment area. The Mayo Lodge almost co-existed with the St. John’s Lodge during those days. The Lodge meetings those days were essentially for social gathering and workings were few and far between. Until 1874 there was no evidence of any lodge operating in the Hyderabad area, when Lodge Deccan was warranted and consecrated under the Grand Lodge of England. This was soon followed by Lodge Morland and Lodge Hyderabad under the Scottish Constitution. While the meeting places of Deccan and Hyderabad were not very clearly recorded. Lodge Morland, after meeting initially in military barracks for some time, got a building constructed near Lal Bahadur Stadium and considerable amount of money was spent on furnishing this building. Owing to circumstances not very clearly documented, Lodge Morland had to rent out this building to the Hyderabad Army Officer’s Mess at a monthly rent of Rs 100/-and in October 1888 chose to meet on the upper storey of the present Goshamahal Baradari (present meeting place of freemasons in the Hyderabad city), which then was a Military Barracks. Lodges Deccan and Hyderabad also joined Morland in having their regular meetings at Goshamahal, at around the same time.

In 1912 the Nizam of Hyderabad, on his accession to the throne, granted a sum of Rs 10,000 towards the nucleus fund for building a temple for the masons. Many years were spent in fruitless efforts and the masons of Hyderabad were still without a temple of their own. In 1933, owing to the efforts taken by R W Bro Sir Terence Keyes, who was the then British Resident in Hyderabad, used his good offices with the Nizam and he was pleased to allow the Freemasons in Nizam Dominions to meet permanently at the Goshamahal. The corpus building fund, which had by then accumulated to Rs 80,000 was spent in repairing and beautifying the building. At the ceremony of re-opening this magnificent building on 8th February 1933, His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad, formally dedicated this building to the Masonic activities carried on by the Freemasons in the Nizam’s Dominions.

Though Masonry has been around in India since 1728, under various Grand Lodges, English, Scottish, Irish and others, however, was officially constituted on 24th November, 1961. The Indian Order of Freemasons is headed by its Grand Master, who is elected for a term of three years. M.W. Bro.(Most Worshipful Brother) Maj. Gen. Dr. Sir Syed Raza Ali Khan, the Nawab of Rampur, was the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India. Grand Lodge of India was divided into four Regional Grand Lodges. Twin cities come under Southern Regional Grand Lodge, covering the states of A.P, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Goa and Lakshadweep, was inaugurated on 9th December, 1961 at Chennai. It is by far the biggest Region in India covering 122 Lodges in 52 centres.