ROYAL SETTING: The stately interiors of the Goshamahal Baradari, said to be the oldest Masonic temple in India.

HYDERABAD: As over 1,000 Freemasons from across South India and other parts of the country converge here over the next two days for their annual investiture meeting, there will be one feature of this movement that will be quietly celebrating its existence in the city.

The Goshamahal Baradari, where several lodges (temples of the Freemason movement) meet regularly, is in more than one way a grand old structure that symbolises the evolution of Freemasons in Hyderabad, right from the days of the Nizam and before that too.

Worldwide presence

The 3,000-year-old movement that has a worldwide presence and was shrouded in secrecy till recently is said to exist in the twin cities for the last 200 years. Its history, according to Freemasons, in Secunderabad and Hyderabad dates back to 1806, when the first Army Lodge came up. Currently, there are 16 lodges in the twin cities, with the St. John's Lodge being the first one in the Secunderabad area.

The Mayo Lodge, the Lodge Deccan and the Lodge Morland, which came up subsequently, were meeting occasionally at the Goshamahal Baradari for want of a place of their own. It was then that the Nizam of Hyderabad, a Freemason himself, donated the building, which was then a military barrack, to permanently house the movement. That was in the early 1900s. The building was dedicated formally to Masonic activities in February 1933.

Impressive member list

The 324-year-old Goshamahal Baradari is considered by the Freemasons as a precious monument with its massive, majestic balustrades, walls adorned by portraits and photographs of Freemasons in their regalia and an equally lavish banquet hall, all being awe-inspiring sights. Now the oldest Masonic temple in the country, the Baradari has nine Masonic lodges and chapters meeting inside its imposing interiors.

Freemasonry, said to be among the "world's oldest secular fraternal societies," is based on the "principles of fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" and has a member list that boasts of names like Justice Devender Gupta, several nawabs of the Nizam's era, Nawab Salar Jung Bahadur, Maharaja Kishen Pershad, Raja Venkata Ram Reddy and several others.

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