12th December 2009, Installation Night

Brethren,  Saturday 12th December 2009, Installation Night of Saxena, the young vibrant lodge of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Ireland in India.. It is not my calling her so, but by many a distinguished visitor, to our lodge, and I am proud of being a member . Till about 3 in the afternoon I was not sure if I would make it, having fallen a victim to  the flu. But I was determined to be there. I felt OK , not good . I wouldnt miss the Installation, beside being the Secretary, Bro. Ramakrishnan is my Initiate of 2000.


The evening was wonderful, with about 34 of our regulars and about 8 visitors. The WM , W.Bro.Gokulan, rocked the evening.He certainly did his homework, and well,. not that Bro.Ramakrishnan did badly, he was as good. It was difficult to judge who did better, they both were wonderful.


At the banquet, W.Bro. Ramakrishnan made one hell of a speech, which floored every one (for a rare standing ovation). Ramki, I knew that all the while that you had it in you, the eloquence , the words , the rhetoric. He made my evening. And today I am back in bed again, not that I indulged in excess. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and would have been more, had I not been  under the wheather. Ramki, you will have a great year. Thanks be to all those Wonderful Masons around you.

W.Bro. K Chandra Mohan.

Provincial Grand Lodge of Ireland in India

Dear brethren of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Ireland of India.

While we make no claim of superiority in numbers, we are proud to be close, compact, coherent and caring group of Freemasons and our relationships inter se are so cordial that they may well be envy of other Constitutions. We are ever ready and willing to comfort the distressed, to soothe their afflictions, and exert our outmost to practise the truly Masonic principles of Benevolence and Brotherly love. It is, therefore, a most apt and timely endeavour to have a Directory of Irish Freemasons in India, which is sure to make an impact on our Brethren and strengthen ties of Brotherly Love, It will assist our Brethren to effectively interact, and play a vital role in promoting their zeal for the principles of Freemasonry--the cardinal principles of Peace, Love, Harmony.

Our Most worshipful Grand master, in his speech of St. John's Day, 27th December 2001, drew our attention to the general trend of failing numbers. Happily, we are in a fortunate position to say that despite deaths, resignations and removals, our numbers have been fairly steady. But if we are to progress, prosper and flourish, we must seek out identify of it and competent and suitable candidates for Freemasonry, and induct them into our Order.

R. W. LAHU CHANDRAKANT CHOGLE

Rt.Worshipful The Provincial Grand Master of The Provincial Grand Lodge of Ireland in India

History

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Western India was formed under the leadership of Late R W Bro. William Mason, the then Grand Inspector for Irish Freemasonry in India on 1st May 1956. R W Bro. William Mason was the first Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Western India, followed by R W Bro. M D Bharucha in 1961 and R W Bro. E G Reporter from 1964 to 1978 and R W Bro. Capt. Sam B Aga. The Provincial Grand Lodge of Western India was reconstituted as the Provincial grand Lodge of Ireland in India on 22nd October 1983 with R W Bro. Capt. Sam B Aga as the first Provincial Grand Master of the reconstituted Provincial Grand Lodge which also incorporated the Provincial Grand Lodge of Eastern India .

The Irish fraternity in India consisted of 27 Lodges. Not many survived. The ravages of time and eventual opting of a few Lodges to join the newly constituted Grand Lodge of India, the total number of Lodges in the Province stabilised to 10, equally distributed between Eastern and Western India. With the Lodges in Eastern India having difficult times, it was decided to relocate them to other Masonic centres. Accordingly, they were relocated at new Delhi, Chennai, Kanpur, Pune and Calicut. It was a prudent move of R W Bro.Capt. Sam B Aga, the provincial Grand Master of the reconstituted Provincial Grand Lodge and R W Bro. C K Maarfatia, the then Provincial Grand Secretary to relocated the stagnant Lodges to better locations where they could, and indeed have, prospered and flourished with the active and dynamic support of the local Brethren.

Lodges in the province

St Patrick's - 3rd Thur 7.00pm, Mumbai
Tara - Last working day in 1,4,7,10, Mumbai
Donoughmore - 4th Thur 6.45pm (ex 5,6,7,12), Poona
Mindin - 3rd Fri 7.00pm (ex 6,7), Chennai
Hely Hutchinson - 1st Fri 1,4,7,10. 1st Sat 2,3,5,6,8,9,11,12. 6.30pm
Harp of Erin - 3rd Thur 6.30pm, Mumbai
The Bombay - 1st Fri 7.00pm, New Delhi
Swastik - 2nd Wed 6.30pm, Bombay
Nowroze Wadia - 2nd Tue 6.30pm (ex 5), Calcutta
Saxena - 2nd Sat 6.30pm (ex 2 & 8) Calicut, Kerala