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Replete with history

The museum is filled with antiques, writes M. BALAGANESSIN

PHOTOS: R. ASHOK

ATTRACTIVE Relics on display.

It is really a step forward in the history of the `Lodge of Rock No. 260,' in Tiruchi, one of the oldest units of Freemasonry on the Coromandel coast. It has now set up a museum at its antique building of the Freemasons' Hall on V.O.C. Road, opposite Raja colony, in the city.

Rare antiques

The Lodge of Rock No. 260, founded in 1816, has had a number of `Worshipful Masters,' who had been the leaders or presidents of the Lodge at different periods. The Lodge had a collection of rare antiques, most of them jewels made of precious stones or glittering metals. It was customary for the District Grand Lodge (DGL) of Madras, the headquarters of 18 Lodges spread over Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, to present these jewels to the Masters and members during important occasions.

It was, again, another established norm for the office-bearers to donate these jewels as a token of fraternity to the Lodge and an expression of their affinity to it. "We have several other collections which are still in tact, despite the passage of time. We wanted to preserve them for posterity and museum is the best means for the purpose," says the Master, S. Ameen.

When the idea of setting up the museum was mooted, the office-bearers took meticulous efforts to classify and arrange them at the Freemasons Hall. Each of the glittering jewellery bears beautiful images engrossed on it — a flying bird, a precious stone with an image of the Rock Fort, so on and so forth.

A glance of exhibits, neatly showcased and beautifully illuminated, gives every detail of its donor and the period when the Lodge got it. "As the exhibits are bound to kindle the interest of visitors in knowing its history, we have appended a little chart beneath each jewellery," say M. Ponnilango and M. Lakshmanan, former Masters of the Lodge of Rock.

The exhibits indicate that the Freemasons are above religion. "For instance, the jewellery handed over by Sir A. V. C. Cambell, the then Grand Master, Madras (1922-35), and the wife of Rao Sahib R. G. Subramania Iyer (1923-25) testify to the principles of Freemasonry," points out S. Sundaresan, secretary of the Lodge.

The museum traces the history of the Grand Lodge altogether. The first original handwritten bylaws (Freemasons call it 'Constitution'), written in 1563 AD, and the bylaws for the Grand Lodge No. 2, written in 1650 AD, bring to light the efforts taken by the founders in imparting ethics and values to its office-bearers.

The first Indian member of the Lodge was, a note says, His Highness Umdat-Ul-Umrah Bahadur, the Nawab of Carnatic. He assumed office on February 5, 1775. The first Hindu to be inducted into the Lodge was G. V. Chinnathambi Pillai, Headquarters Inspector of Police, who was enrolled on April 9, 1863.

"Many great personalities of Tiruchi have associated themselves with the Lodge. It is quite interesting to note that Maj. William Pitt Macdonald became the Master in 1847, and Prince B. R. Tondaiman, in 1895", says Mr. Sundaresan.

The Lodge appears to have gone through some teething troubles in the initial period of its inception, till it started functioning at its own building - The Temperance Hall, as the Freemasonry premises of Tiruchi is known, was constructed in 1902 at the initiative of Lord Ampthil, the then Governor and District Grand Master of Madras. A booklet on `The history of Lodge of Rock - A story of triumph over difficulties,' authored by Sir Tirumalai Desikachariar, the Master in 1907, brings to light how the Lodge could see the light of the day despite several odds.

"We have preserved a copy of the booklet," the office-bearers say with a twinkle in their eyes.

Separate gallery

A separate gallery showcases the Ashlar Cut from King Solomon's quarries at Jerusalem, given by the District Grand Lodge on August 22, 1931 along with a gavel presented by D. Srinivasa Rao on February 21, 1931.

A big volume of the Holy Bible, Bhagavad Gita and the Holy Quran, given by William Gillchrist in 1890, the Prince B. S. Raghunath Tondaiman, the Master in 1895, and K. Basheer Ahmed in December 1954 speak volumes about the objective of the Freemasonry - universal brotherhood and fraternity.

Apart from the museum, the Lodge has also been running a charity clinic, according to the convenor of the clinic, K. Muralidharan.

Both the museum and the clinic are open between 3 and 5 p.m. on all days.

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