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  • 26/04/2023 at 06:27 #130331
    advtanmoy
    Keymaster

    In 1717 A.D. when an era of comparative peace and harmony dawned on the European scene, the Grand Lodge of England took shape at a meeting of the local Lodges of London, to elect a Grand Master. A United constitution was drawn up and recognized by all the Lodges. A democratic tradition in the election of the Worshipful Master of a Lodge was prescribed. The Worshipful Master was authorized to appoint his team of officers.

    It is therefore of interest that within 12 years of the constitution of the Grand Lodge of England, constituted for the purpose of exercising supervision over the lodges in London, and its neighboring areas, a petition was sent by a few Brethren in India to constitute a Provincial Grand Lodge in Calcutta. The Petition having been granted, a Provincial Grand Master was appointed to supervise Masonic activity in India and the Far East in 1728 A.D.

    Full details regarding how the First Lodge was constituted in India, are preserved in the Minutes of the Grand Lodge in London. First a petition was presented on December 28, 1728 and at the end of the minutes of that meeting, the text of the “Deputation” from the Grand Master: “to Empower and Authorize our well beloved Brother Pomfret….that he do, in our place and stead, constitute a regular Lodge, in due form at Fort William in Bengal in the East Indies….” This was signed and sealed “the 6th day of February 1728/9 and in the year of Masonry 5732 (which shows that Grand Lodge used Usher’s Chronology in dating the Masonic era – as the Grand Lodge of Scotland still .

    The Lodge at Fort William — that is, Calcutta — appears in the Engraved List of 1730, as No. 72. It was to meet at Fort William in Calcutta. The coat of Arms was adopted from the East India Company a golden lion, rampant guardant, supporting between the forepaws a regal crown. In 1729, Captain Ralph Farwinter was appointed “Provisional Grand Master for East India in Bengal” and also James Dawson as “Provincial Grand Master” for East Indies.

    The Provincial Grand Lodge of Madras was formed in 1752 and The Provincial Grand Lodge of Bombay was created in 1758. Although it appeared in the Roll of Grand Lodge there is no record of how it came into being.

    The first Indian Mason was Omdat-ul-Omrah, Nawab Carnatic initiated in 1775. The doors to Hindu Masonry was flung wide-open might one say, by the unstoppable determination of one Mr. P.C. Dutt of Calcutta to become a member of the craft. After much opposition from the Provincial Grand Master (Hugh Sanderman) and nine years after he was proposed for initiation Mr.Dutt became Bro. Dutt in Anchor and Hope, No. 234, in 1872. Twenty-three years later, he was Deputy District Grand Master.

    [See the full post at: List of Eminent Indian Freemasons: Tata, Nehru, Radhakrishnan, Vivekananda, Kesab Chandra, Chittaranjan..]

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