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Regalia and a long history the freemasons.
THE OTHER day, the masons opened the doors of their regional lodge in Chennai for an audience, which included the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, B.Subhashan Reddy, for a glimpse of a Masonic temple.
And what impressed the visitors most? Cherished memories of a rich legacy closely inter-woven with the Colonial rule, which the masons alone can showcase.
The freemasons were there in their regalia, grandmaster D.D.Udeshi in the chair. His mallet came down and doors of the temple closed. Brothers of the fraternity gave him an update of the `situation' to proceed further. Then there was a show on the member induction, not to speak of the procedures adopted for enrolment for the benefit of the visitor.
Their message too was clear. They generated their own funds for community service projects. The Regional Grand Lodge, Chennai, had set-up a school in Gujarat, at a cost of Rs. 22 lakhs. Every month the twenty city lodges collect foodgrains for distribution to the needy. Applications for education and health care are received and processed as a matter of routine. There are two dispensaries for medical assistance - one at Anna Nagar and the other on Ethiraj Salai. This apart over 8,000 children of the economically weaker sections have been administered Hepatitis B vaccine.
The English left the Indian shores over five decades back, but even today the settings- furniture, attire and the Masonic tools that they left behind bring back the images of another era.
The Masonic movement in India goes way back to 1728, when the first lodge came up at Fort William, Calcutta. The English influence extended to the South. By the year 1767, there were five lodges in Madras.
The Bombay Lodge came into existence in 1758 and the Scots pushed the movement along the Konkan coast.
Lodges came up in Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe, Yenam, courtesy the French connection. The Dutch came and Lodge Solomon was founded in Bengal.
Of course, it was an all European affair till 1850, says freemason N.Sankar.
The Freedom Movement then opened the doors. W.C. Banerjee and Rajaji were freemasons, part of a long list. The Chief Justice of India is a freemason, Grand Master D.D.Udeshi told Mr.Reddy.
For the audience, it was an occasion to discover freemasonry. The focus was to provide an overview of the once rather `closed' movement, whose ideals are firmly rooted in ``fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man''.
By S. Shanker
Photo: N. Balaji
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Life
Bangalore
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