by Vijay Jagannathan | Freemason Articles
Not long ago I met three men who wanted to join Lodge Al Ameen. Each of them had a different reason for wanting to be part of it. I listened to all three and found myself asking a question I had not asked in a while. Why did I join? Why did I stay? The second turns...
by Vijay Jagannathan | Freemason Articles
People joining a lodge sometimes ask what the offices involve. The answers they get tend to be vague and slightly grand. So here is an honest account of mine, which is the least mysterious office in the building. The summons Before every meeting a summons goes out to...
by Vijay Jagannathan | Freemason Articles
Bring somebody into a Masonic temple for the first time and they will look at three things. The chairs, the ceiling, then the floor. The floor is the one they ask about. Ours is black and white squares, laid in a long rectangle down the centre of the room, finished...
by Vijay Jagannathan | Freemason Articles
Scottish Freemasonry in India did not stay in the port cities. Look down the old roll and you find lodges chartered in places you would not think could sustain one. In 1867, Lodge Barton No. 475 at Lonavla, then a hill station called Lanouli. In 1892, Lodge Charity...
by Vijay Jagannathan | Freemason Articles
Ask most Indian Masons who the first Indian Freemason was and you will hear about Bombay in 1843. It is a good story. It is also sixty-seven years too late. The first Indian to be made a Freemason was initiated at Trichinopoly in 1776. His name was Umdat-ul-Umara. He...
