Freemasons and their link to Mumbai’s heritage

Freemasonry began in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in England and Scotland and entered India in the early 18th century. It is considered to be the world’s largest closed-door fraternity of stonemasons.

The District Grand Lodge of Bombay, the city’s Freemason centre, organised a heritage walk on Sunday show Mumbaiites the connection between Freemasonry and Mumbai’s heritage structures.

People during the heritage walk organized by Freemansons society from CSMT to Fort, in Mumbai (Bhushan Koyande/HT)

Freemasonry began in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in England and Scotland and entered India in the early 18th century. It is considered to be the world’s largest closed-door fraternity of stonemasons.

“Many heritage structures in south Mumbai have connections with Freemasonry. For example, the initiation for the first lodge to admit Indians into Freemasonry took place at the Town Hall, now called as the Asiatic Society,” R Venkatesh of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

According to Venkatraman P, the deputy district grandmaster, District Grand Lodge of Bombay, Frederick William Steven, the architect of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) building, was initiated into Freemasonry in 1875. Steven was also the architect behind the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters, Maharashtra Police headquarters in Colaba, Post-Office Mews at Apollo Bunder, the head offices of the BB&CI Railway at Churchgate railway station, the Oriental Life Assurance Offices at Flora Fountain, Mulji Jetha fountain.