Page 51 - MML - Journal - Centenary Edition - Vol. 01 / 2023

Masters’ Lodges – The Grand Original Masters’ Lodge No. 116
& Installed (Past) Masters’ Lodges
By R W Bro. Dr. P. K. Muthukumaraswamy, P.DY.G.M., P.DY.R.G.M.
I have been remiss in my duties towards the Madras Masters’ Lodge No.103, of which, I have been a member for many years, as also its Worshipful Master in 2012. As a penance for my default, when the present WM, R W Bro Pratapkaran Paul asked me to author an article for the Commemorative Souvenir to be published on the occasion of the Centenary Celebrations of this venerable Lodge in July 2023, I readily accepted. I am a teacher by profession, but I always think of myself as a perpetual student. Not surprising then, that I felt compelled to learn all that I could about this institution of Past Masters’ Lodges. I am happy to share my research with you.
Past Masters’ Lodges Under GLI: I first picked up my copy of the Grand Lodge of India’s Masonic Yearbook and Directory and went through the printed Roll of Lodges. I discovered that the Grand Lodge of India had just fifteen lodges under this category. Let me go through the list:
(1) Madras Masters’ Lodge No. 103 (consecrated 1922, RGLSI)
(2) Bharat Mata Masters’ Lodge No. 121 (consecrated 1950, New Delhi, RGLNI)
(3) U.P Masters’ Lodge No. 134 (consecrated 1956, Lucknow, RGLNI)
(4) Poona Past Masters’ Lodge No. 167 (consecrated 1964, RGLWI)
(5) Bhojpur Past Masters’ Lodge No. 261 (consecrated 1985, Bhopal, RGLWI)
(6) Gorakhnath Past Masters’ Lodge No. 286 (consecrated 1992, Gorakhpur, RGLEI)
(7) Kerala Masters’ Lodge No. 309 (consecrated 1996, Cochin, RGLSI)
(8) Andhra Masters’ Lodge No. 316 (consecrated 1998, Visakhapatnam RGLSI)
(9) Karnataka Masters’ Lodge No. 325 (consecrated 2000, Bangalore, RGLSI)
(10) Bhagyanagar Masters’ Lodge No. 326 (consecrated 2000, Hyderabad, RGLSI)
(11) Nagpur Past Masters’ Lodge No. 342 (consecrated 2004, RGLWI)
(12) Indore Past Masters’ Lodge No. 368 (consecrated 2010, RGLWI)
(13) Gujarat Past Masters’ Lodge No. 371, Rajkot (consecrated 2011, RGLWI)
(14) Sukumar De Past Masters’ Lodge of Bengal No. 402, Kolkata (consecrated 2015 RGLEI)
(15) Chanakya Past Masters’ Lodge No. 405, Gurgaon (consecrated 2015, RGLNI)
Five in the Southern Region; five in the Western Region; three in the Northern Region; and two in the Eastern Region.
Masters’ Lodges? or, Past Masters’ Lodges?
Those of you who had been reading closely would have noticed something a little strange in this list of fifteen lodges: seven of them are named Masters’ Lodges; and the other eight are named Past Masters’ Lodges. Why this difference?
My next stop was our Book of Constitutions – but surprisingly, there was nothing there relating to either Past Masters’ Lodges or Masters’ Lodges.
Most of you will be aware, that In strict Masonic usage, a Past Master is one who has served as the Master of his lodge and demitted office at the end of his year of service; whereas a Master is one who has been duly elected to preside over a lodge and is awaiting his installation or one who is serving his term of office. Does this mean
Madras Masonic Journal Vol. 01 / 2023 - Centenary Year Edition
A Publication of Madras Masters Lodge No. 103, GLI
50