User:Ramchandram/Masons on Wheels

Masons on Wheels is a unique initiative of [Lodge Keys No.297], Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, a primary unit of Freemasonry (one of the oldest secular fraternal society spread across the globe) to travel all India by road in cars covering a distance of 40,000 kms and beyond on a mission to spread the message of brotherhood, promoting eye donation and connecting 18,000 plus Freemasons in 143 masonic towns across India. It was launched on 27th September 2007 by the M.W. Bro. Justice Devender Gupta, M.W. The Grand Master of Grand Lodge of India.



Lodge Keys No.297
Lodge Keys No.297 is a Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India based primary unit of The Grand Lodge of AF & AM of India. It is sponsored by Lodge Moreland 25. Warranted on 15th July, 1994, Consecrated on 5th Day of November 1994. It is named after R.W. Bro. Sir Terence Keyes, who was the then British Resident in Hyderabad. It has currently 73 members. Lodge Keys is the recipient of Award for Maximum initiations consequently for two years in Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India. It bagged among others Best Summons Award, Merit Certificate for its Website www.lodgekeys297.org. It meets on 1st Wednesday of every month, except May at Goshmahal Baradari Masonic Hall, Goshamahal, Hyderabad.

Objectives
To spread Brotherly Love, Share and Care for sightless millions of people in the country by propagating Eye Donation.

To dispel the prevailing notion that Freemasonry is a Secret Society.

To connect Freemasons across India and to strengthen the bond between them.

To encourage cross lodge visits, meetings and twinnings.

To make Freemasonry, Lodges known and understood as per the vision of the Grand Master of 2007 about Masonic Liberalization in India.

To take Masonry close to society and its problems (eye donation in this case) and create awareness for the same as millions of people (2.6 million) are living in blindness for want of corneal transplantation.

To instill more Freemasonry in Men by spreading the message and philosophy of Freemasonry, so that it not only has more men in Freemasonry, but also to ensure that more men will have more Freemasonry in them.

To endeavour in small way to make Freemasonry more vibrant and dynamic.

Flag Off
The 3000 years old institution is mostly misunderstood in this country. That is because Freemasons never talked about themselves in public. To shun their silence and to go close to society and bring society close to Freemasonry this novel mission 'Masons on Wheels' planned by Lodge Keys No.297 was flagged off by M.W. Bro. Justice Devinder Gupta, the M.W. Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of India on 27th September 2007 at Goshamahal, Hyderabad. R.W. Bro. S. Krishnan, The Grand Secretary of The Grand Lodge of India graced the occasion.

First Leg
On 28th Sept, 2007 formal journey of all India kicked off from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh to participate in half yearly meeting of Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India held on September 29th and 30th at Rajahmundry. Twenty brethren travelled to Rajahmundry and back in four cars covering 1200 kms.

Trial Leg
Prior to undertaking formal Masons on Wheels trip, W.Bro. D. Ramchandram, Bro. J. Sampath Kumar and Bro. Vijay Kailash Beerval went on a trial journey in July from Hyderabad to Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh travelling about 1800 kms participating in the Long Term Jewel Presentation of Lodge Waltair No. 56, a Centennary Celebrations of a Chapter in Vizag and Foundation Stone Laying function in Srikakulam.

Members
The team of Lodge Keys No. 297 on the ‘Masons on Wheels’ journey comprises of Bro. J. Sampath Kumar, W. Bro. D. Ramchandram, W. Bro. Ramana Gudipati, W. Bro. Praful Kumar Sahgal, Bro. Vijay K. Beerval, Bro. P. S. Chiranjeevi, Bro. P. S. Ramesh, Bro. A. Shree Nagesh, Bro. V. Ksheera Sagar, Bro. K.H.B. Atmaram, Bro. Madhusudhan Bojja, Bro. MVV Seshu Kumar, Bro. Kaja Nagaraju and Bro. G. Vidhyakar Rao.

However, W.Bro. Ramana Gudipati, W.Bro. D. Ramchandram, Bro. J. Sampath Kumar remain permanent members and participated in almost all the legs of the journey.

States Visited
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu Kashmir, Jharkhand and two Union Territories-Pondicherry and Chandigarh.

Masons on Wheels so far travelled ten legs covering about 30,000 kms, 18 states and 2 union territories.

Freemasonry in India
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.

The following are the foreign Constitutions whose Lodges functioned in India

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.

Towards the end of October 1959 that the Most W. Grand Masters of England, Ireland and the Immediate Past Grand Master Mason of Scotland met in London to discuss the future of Freemasonry in India. The three Grand Masters considered that "an independent Grand Lodge of India is desirable and that its establishment should....be gradually but actively pursued."

The Grand Lodge of India was officially constituted on Friday the 24th November 1961 in the Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi. Out of a total of 277 individual Lodges in India 145 Lodges with a total membership of 7466 opted for the new Grand Lodge of India. This represented a little over 52 per cent.

After the Consecration and Constitution, the Deputy Grand Master of England assumed the Throne and installed Major General Dr. Sir Syed Raza Ali Khan, G.C.I.E.,D.Litt., LL.D., His Highness The Nawab of Rampur, as the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India. The Aprons, Collars, Gauntlets etc. for the new Lodge were provided jointly by the three parent Grand Lodges.

In addition to the three parent Grand Lodges, the M.W. Grand Master of the Grand Lodges of the State of Israel, the M.W. Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Alberta (Canada) and about 1,491 Brethren from all over India were present at this historic event.

The first Indian Mason was Omdat-ul-Omrah, Nawab Carnatic initiated in 1775. The second Indian Mason was M. Bandeh Ali Khan, initiated in Marine Lodge, Calcutta in 1812.

Name some of the prominent Indians who were Freemasons include: 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).

Today India has about 366 Lodges spread in 143 masonic towns across India.

Freemasonry in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh/India there are around 30 number of lodges in places such as the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Warangal, Kurnool, Vijayawada, Guntur, Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Anakapally, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram.

Freemasonry in Hyderabad and Secunderabad
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 Hyderabad/Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh dates back to 1806, when the Army Lodge first came up. According to Bro. J.D.B. Gribble who wrote in ‘The History of Freemasonry in Hyderabad(Deccan)” that 33rd Regiment stationed in Secunderabad worked under a Warrant as “Unity and Friendship” granted in the year 1803. It was a mobile lodge. Thus the freemasonry began in Hyderabad/Secunderabad with the 33rd Army Regiment Lodge.

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.

Goshamahal Baradari meeting place for Masons in Hyderabad is the oldest building used as a Masonic Temple in India. It built in 1682 by Sultan Abul Hassan Tanasha, the last King of Qutub Shahi Dynasty. Emperor Aurangazeb installed his son, Shah Alam, in this building when he sent him to complete the conquest of Southern India. For over two years, this building was the headquarters of the Moghuls in the Deccan. Presently there are only two monuments of the Deccani Style of Architecture besides this building and they are Charminar and Quli Qutub Shahi Tombs.

Today twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad have 16 Lodges and about 600 members.

The List of Lodges in twin cities are The Mayo No. 19, Deccan No. 20, Morland No. 25, Ekram No. 45, Hyderabad No. 50, Italia Williams Manian No. 158, Rakshasena 162, Naoshir Chenoy No. 187, Secunderabad No. 211, Perfect No. 264, Keys No. 297, Bhagyanagar Masters Lodge No. 326, Eagle No. 334, The Model No. 335, Engineers No. 336.

How well Freemasons are known by society?
In the late 1800s a miller discovered that the square and the compasses was not protected by a trademark, and he decided to use it as a logo for this own brand of flour. The Masons of that state brought Suit to stop him. Since there was no clear precedence to guide him, the judge in the case ordered a survey be made of a sample of the population to determine if the square and compasses were so well known to be associated with Masonry that the Craft had a claim on the symbol in equity.

As a result of that survey, it was determined that more than 80% of the non-Masons in that state knew the symbol and knew that it stood of Masonry. The miller was not allowed to use the symbol.

It was a wonderful testimony of the public’s recognition and image of Masonry.

Dare to be different
Have will, have way.