What is the history of Freemasons Hall in Chennai?

17 Nov 2024 updated 15 Oct 2026 1 of 5 Freemasons Hall Chennai Grand Lodge of India Lodge Perfect Unanimity District Grand Lodge of Madras

Lodges were meeting at a Freemasons' Hall in Madras as early as 1791 1. Proposals for a dedicated building were raised in 1823 by Lodge Perfect Unanimity 1, culminating in 1839 when the foundation stone for a new Masonic Temple was laid on the beach near Capper's in St. Thomé by Lord Elphinstone 1. Constructed by Lodge Perfect Unanimity, this hall hosted the Provincial Grand Lodge of Madras starting in 1841 1.

The present Freemasons Hall on Ethiraj Salai in Egmore, Chennai, was built in the twentieth century. Its foundation stone was laid on 26 February 1923 by Lord Willingdon, then Governor of Madras, as the District Grand Lodge of Madras records. On 19 December 1961, the Egmore hall was renovated and decorated to host the inaugural meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India and the installation of its first Regional Grand Master, as the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India records.

Works cited

From the library. Each claim above is numbered to the work and page it came from.

C. H. Malden A History of Freemasonry (Under the English Constitution) on the Coast of Coromandel: Together with Histories of the Old Madras Lodges Which Were Founded Before the Union: Together with Appendices and a Map 1895 · pp. 52, 105, 171-172 Malden records the 1839 laying of the foundation stone on the beach near Capper's and its inaugural use in 1841; Malden documents the 1823 initiative by Lodge Perfect Unanimity to raise funds for building a Masonic Temple; Malden provides a 1791 lodge list est

Web pages read

Retrieved while the answer was written. Follow these to see what they say.

rglsi.org.in the 1961 redecoration and inaugural meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India
dglofmadras.org the 1923 foundation stone laying by Lord Willingdon at Egmore

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