Freemasons Hall

Team Chronicle

At 19 Park Street, wedged between Park Hotel and Karnani Mansion, stands Freemasons’ Hall, the home of Freemasonry in Bengal. A private, esoteric society, Freemasonry traces its origin to the stonemasons during the time of Solomon, King of Israel in the 10th century BC and later to the builders of churches and castles of medieval England, who fiercely guarded against any breach into their craft guilds by impostors and unqualified persons with elaborate checks and passwords. Later, grappling with dwindling numbers, they began co-opting non-operative “gentlemen masons” into their fold.

The term ‘Freemason’ has variously been attributed to freestones, fine-grained sandstones and lime stones that the skilful artist – a freestone mason – chiselled into ornamental structures; or to denote that the medieval masons were not bound in any manner or referred to the exemption enjoyed by the masons who built King Solomon’s Temple from having to pay any tax and, in that sense, were “free”.  The rolls boast US and Indian Presidents, English monarchs, Maharajas and Nawabs of princely estates and eminent personalities from the religious, judicial, political, scientific and literary worlds.

A fitting tribute was paid to the organization when Freemasonry in India became the subject of doctoral research by the University of Calcutta in the not so distant past. And, nestled away from the public view, down a forty yard drive-way, sprawled over two acres, overlooking a verdant lawn, proudly stands this edifice that few know exists. It is a magnificent two-storey art deco mansion harking back to the early 20th century, 1911, to be precise. That was when – Freemasonry, already after a two-hundred-year-old existence in Calcutta –  decided to move to Park Street and the cornerstone was laid at the north-east corner of the building in accordance with Masonic rites by the Deputy District Grand Master, Worshipful Brother D. A. Dring, the then Agent of the Indian Railways. It may be mentioned that amongst Masons social titles are dispensed with. Instead, they address one another as brothers. And Masonic titles range from the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, the current incumbent being  the Duke of Kent, to the Right Worshipful District Grand Master, on whom rests the mantle of governing the District, – in this case,  Bengal, – to the plain Brother. In between, are other offices of the Order. The jurisdiction of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal, now much shrunken, stretches from Kanpur in the north to Jamshedpur in the south.

As one enters through the impressive porch, one faces a foyer leading to four halls, two of titanic proportions on either flank. The floors are polished and chequered black and white while myriad rays reflect out of the crystalline prisms of the sparkling chandeliers above. An oriel in the Northampton Hall lying in the west, boasts a concert piano – the ivories rippling out Moonlight Sonatas and glissandos as waltzing couples gracefully sashay down and execute elegant whisks across the breadth of the hall, on ladies’ nights.  Banquets or festive boards in Masonic parlance are replete with gleaming cutlery, flatware and toasts and prosit to the distressed brother and serve to take you back to an era when this city was known for gracious living. Indeed, one gets the distinct impression of time being frozen in these enormous halls.  Where else would one get to see men moving around in dinner jackets, dress shirts, bow ties and spotless white gloves with the aplomb and casualness of regularity? The previous District Grand Master, since departed, wore morning suits! The Eastern Hall is an identical to the Northampton Hall, only bigger in size.

Though not as large, but the elegant Cozy Room, tucked away behind the Northampton hall and furnished with ornate chairs complementing a gleaming oak table, caters to smaller and more informal festive boards. Glistening stemware and silverware grace a tall glass-fronted cabinet at one end. Of the two smaller halls, the one on the left is called the “RGLEI” Room. The initials stand for Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India, a constituent of the Grand Lodge of India, which was established in 1961 when, by a concordat, many Lodges surrendered their charters to England and switched their affiliation to this new body. The wall serves as a gallery of the past Regional Grand Masters of Eastern India.  The Scottish Room houses a second grand. The Masonic Montessori House is run by a staff of experienced teachers at the back of the building. An air-conditioned bar, next to the staircase, opens after sundown and allows slaking of parched throats.

The landing of the sweeping wooden staircase leading to the upper floor, hosts an ashlar. It marks the transition from a rough-hewn stone, just quarried, to a smooth and dressed building block, metaphorically representing a Freemason’s progressive  transformation, through diligence and application, into a just and upright man. The oil above portrays Angel Gabriel, the heavenly host jealously guarding the hallowed portals from torts and misdemeanours. Lambent sunlight filters in through a stained-glass cupola high above and the octagonal lantern it reposes on.

The stair head extends on either side into a wide corridor with the walls adorned with the portraits of past Grand Masters and a sketch of ancient Jerusalem, which leads to “Temples” or immense halls, where meetings of “Lodges” or branches of the order are conducted. The word ‘Lodge’ borrows its name from the places where the medieval masons boarded and lodged and kept their working tools. The meetings comprise, apart from the administrative procedures, ritualistic dramas with parabolic messages. Arranged on a small table, beside a pedestal in front of the throne for the “Master”, are the implements of a mason: a gauge, a chisel, gavel, square, level, plumb rule, skirret, pencil and compasses, all of which have allegoric allusions to the morals. Thus, for instance, while the square exhorts square conduct, the compasses are a reminder of God’s impartial justice. These two instruments, incidentally, constitute the emblem of Freemasonry worldwide. What particularly strikes the attention in one such Temple is what appears to the casual eye, four tassels pendent from the lofty ceiling. They emblematically represent the four cardinal virtues, namely, prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice.  In another Temple are letter blocks forming the words FIAT LUX, Latin for “let there be light”. It is the motto of this house of enlightenment referring to the benediction of the Almighty on a planet shrouded in darkness.

A robing room serves to clothe the members in Masonic regalia, comprising aprons, collars, chains and gauntlets. A library on the southern side, atop the portico, houses rows of bookcases. A repository of Masonic literature, the Athenaeum has, running down its length, a row of tables lined on either side with chairs to facilitate quiet research, as well as animated conferences. A second building to the left which is no less handsome, houses the offices of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal and its Indian counterpart, the Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India. A short but wide perron, an even wider verandah supporting Tuscan columns and beyond, wainscoted rooms separated by a corridor leading to the respective back offices, make up the ground floor. The entire upper floor comprises the official residence of the District Grand Master. He does not live here, though; the sprawling quarters are used occasionally for festive boards, as well as for putting up members from the outstation Lodges.

Such prime property located in the middle of a district steeped in glitter, is owned by the Bengal Freemasons’ Trust Association, a Limited Company registered under the Indian Companies Act. Acknowledging its singular eminence, long and glorious past, and the values it enshrines, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation conferred on the Hall a richly-deserved heritage status in 2001. May it stand, thus blue-ribboned for generations to come, ensuring as ever ET LUX FIT – “and there was Light”.