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Q). When did Freemasonry
come to India?
A). The honor of receiving
Freemasonry in India goes to Calcutta. In 1730 officers
of the East Indian Company held their meetings in Fort
William, Calcutta. The number given to the Lodge was
72.
Q). What was the first
Lodge in Madras?
A). No. 222 EC, in 1752,
and it does not appear to have received a name.
Q). What was the first
Lodge in Bombay?
A). Bombay Lodge No. 234
EC in 1758.
Q). What was the first
Lodge in Punjab?
A). Lodge No. 489 EC,
in 1786.
Q). What effect did the
existence of two competing Grand Lodges in England [Ancients
and Moderns] have on Freemasonry in India?
A). In as much as numerous
Lodges had been constituted in India by the Moderns
while others had come into existence Ancient auspices,
quite naturally much of the Ritualistic differences
established themselves into the respective Lodges. This
situation was complicated somewhat by the fact that
there were also Lodges in India of Irish & Scottish
origins.
However, it was in India,
where both the warring groups joined together in harmony
long before the formation of the Union of England. In
1785, the Atholl Lodge at Madras surrounded its powers
and accepted the United Prov. Grand Lodge. The old Atholl
Lodge was recorded as lodge of Perfect Unanimity [later
numbered as No. 150]. Madras had thus stolen a march
of 27 years over the United Grand Lodge of England,
which was formed in 1813.
Q). Who was the first
Indian Mason?
A). Omdat-ul-Omrah, the
Nawab of Carnatic. The second Indian Mason was M. Bandeh
Ali Khan, initiated in Marine Lodge, Calcutta in 1812.
Q). Who was the first
Hindu to be admitted into Freemasonry?
A). Bro. Ranganath Sastry
in Lodge Perfect Unanimity No. 233, Madras in 1857.
Q). The earliest Sikh
to be made a mason?
A). Bro. Duleep Singh
in Lodge Star in the East in 1861.
Q). Which Province had
segregation preventing Indians from being admitted into
Freemasonry?
A). In Bengal, where the
bye-law No. 55 of the PGL (EC) prevented Indians from
being admitted into Freemasonry. Ultimately the first
Hindu to be admitted in Bengal was Bro. P C Dutt in
1872, that too after very many "black - balling" and
nine years of persistent appeals.
Q). What were the foreign
Constitutions whose Lodges functioned in India?
A). Dutch Constitution
- Lodge Solomon was founded on April 7, 1758 at Tandelga
near Chinsurah in Bengal by the commander of the merchant
fleet of the Netherlands East India Company, Bro. Jacob
Larwood Van Chevichaven.
French Constitution -
Lodge Sincere Amite, Pondicherry was chartered in 1787.
There were quite a few Naval Lodges. Though Naval Lodges
were not recognized by the Grand Lodge of France, the
members of the Naval Lodge in due course found their
way to get affiliated to and remain under the protection
of a stationary Lodge.
Scottish Constitution
- Into the sub-continent the first Lodge under the Scottish
Constitution was consecrated in 1801 in Ceylon (Sri
Lanka). One Lodge Hope No. 334 SC, Karachi was charted
in 1767; in 1770 it was shifted to New Castle and in
1782 to New York. The date of its arrival in India cannot
at present be stated. Lodge Hope was charted by the
PGM of Western India on April 25, 1842.
Danish Constitution -
Introduced in Tranquebar (near Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu)
in 1805. The Danish colony at Tranquebar was fairly
numerously populated by Danes. Due to the efforts of
one Bro. Ewald a warrant was granted for a Lodge at
Tranquebar in 1807 by the National Grand Lodge of Denmark.
The name of the Lodge was "De L’amour Fraternelle"
(to Brotherly Love).
Irish Constitution - The
Light of the North No. 357 at Kurnaul [now Karnal] in
1835. This Lodge survived for three years only. The
next was Lodge Duke of Abercon No. 382 IC, in Calcutta
in 1905.
Q). Name some of the prominent
Indians who were Freemasons.
A). Swamy Vivekananda
(initiated in 1884 under the name of Bro. Narendra Nath
Dutt in Lodge Anchor & Hope, Calcutta). Motilal
Nehru - Lodge Harmony, Kanpur (Father of Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru and grand father of Indhira Gandhi), C. Rajagopalachary
(Governor General of India), Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer
(Divan of Travancore), Dr. P V Cheriy (Governor of Maharashtra),
and Fakruddin Ali Ahmed (President of India).
Q). Which is the oldest
building used as a Masonic Temple in India?
A). The Goshamahal Baradari,
Hyderabad, built in 1682 by Sultan Abul Hassan Tanasha.
Q). When was the Grand
Lodge of India formed?
A). November 24, 1961
in New Delhi.
Q). Name the parent Grand
Lodges of Grand Lodge of India.
A). The Grand Lodges of
England, Ireland and Scotland.
Q). Who were the principal
officers at the consecration of the GLI?
A). Dy. GM of Grand Lodge
of England, RW Bro Earl of Cadogon, Grand Master of
Grand Lodge of Scotland, MW Bro. Archibald, and Dy.
GM of Grand Lodge of Ireland, RW Bro George S Gamble.
Q). Who was the founder
Grand Master of GLI?
A). MW Bro. H H Major
General Syed Raza Ali Khan, Nawab of Rampur.
Q). How many Lodges opted
to become the Founder Lodges of the G.L. of India?
A). 145 Lodges with a
total membership of 7466 opted to become the founder
Lodges of the Grand Lodge of India.
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