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The bust of Kharshedji Rustomji Cama on the first landing of the stairway at the Freemasons’ Hall was decorated with a few flowers. The thick rose garland on the inscription below concealed some of the wordings that recognized him as the "Right Worshipful Brother (Bro) and Most Excellent Companion… Honorary Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Scotland… Past Master and for 56 years an active member of Lodge Rising Star of Western India.” The spotlight on the bust in lilac and purple ensured that Cama remained in focus for the visitors entering the imposing building for the first time on August 10, 2024. 

In recognition of Cama’s "unwavering commitment… and his selfless service extended to society in general and to the centuries-old revered Order of Freemasonry in particular,” the District Grand Lodge of India organized an event which members of the Masonic fraternity and the public were invited to attend after due registration. This was the first in their series of "Revering our Founding Fathers Memorial Event” that they plan to host annually to commemorate a distinguished member while familiarizing the invitees with the ideals and principles of Freemasonry. 

Initiated into Freemasonry in 1854 at the age of 23, among the many distinguished positions Cama held was of the first Indian Pro-Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Western India and the Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Freemasonry of Western India. "In Masonry, he networked with like-minded individuals who shared his values of brotherhood, charity, personal development… Lodge K. R. Cama was founded in his honor,” noted the four-page leaflet distributed on the occasion to provide key highlights about Cama, a glimpse into Scottish Freemasonry under whose jurisdiction many of the Masonic lodges in India function, plus details of the evening program with the dinner menu.

"Cama was a scholar, reformer, philanthropist, educationist, member of the Parsi Amelioration Society that brought reformists and conservatives together. He set up a business in Europe but later both he and Dadabhai Naoroji abandoned it because they did not want to trade in alcohol and opium,” stated Bro Kersi Limathwalla (Freemasons address each other with the honorific "Brother”), Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of India in his welcome address. "This generation of Freemasons in India will never see his equal,” was a tribute paid by Grand Master Col Forman when Cama passed away in 1909. Two years later at the unveiling of the bust at the Freemasons’ Hall, Cama was described as "one of the greatest and best Masons ever seen in India.” 

A presentation by Susan Snell, archivist and records manager at the Museum of Freemasonry, London, was made on the Zoom platform to acquaint the audience with the Cama family’s involvement in Freemasonry. Kharshedji’s father-in-law Manockjee Cursetjee (founder of The Alexandra Girls’ English Institution) was a leading Freemason. Lodge K. R. Cama, originally founded in Bombay, has since relocated to Nagpur. It was represented at the memorial event by Bro Mehernosh Mavalwala and Bro Digvijay Mahbe. There was also another Lodge in the UK named after Cama that was functioning until a few years ago. In his valedictory address, Bro Noshir Paghdiwalla, District Grand Secretary described Cama as "a towering figure in the annals of Indian history, a scholar whose passion for knowledge was matched only by his dedication to the betterment of society... His leadership within the Lodge was marked by a commitment to inclusivity, intellectual exploration and communal harmony.”

Best known as a linguist and Orientalist, after his formal education at the then Elphinstone School, Cama studied Avesta and Pahlavi as also modern European languages. He was instrumental in introducing Avesta and Pahlavi classes in Bombay and started the Din No Khol Karnar Mandli, the Parsi Amelioration Society and the Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha to modernize religious practices while remaining rooted in traditon. Following his demise at the age of 77 years, the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute was established in his memory in 1916 for which the major funding had come from a prominent merchant, Damodar Sukhadwalla. For the first 20 years, this Institute functioned from the Sukhadwalla Building on Hornby Street until it found a new abode opposite Lions Gate, according to Limathwalla who added that the Freemasons’ Hall is located on Damodar Sukhadwalla Marg!

Included in the evening program was a brief Avestan benediction by Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia who prayed for the departed souls of Cama and others, and invoked blessings for all who have taken birth to progress. Among the other invitees sitting beside Karanjia were scion of the Cama family, Hormusji Cama, managing director of The Bombay Samachar, social worker Kishor Kher who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of school dropouts through his organization Yuva Parivartan and Viraf Mehta, chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. Veteran Freemasons, Bro Rummy Khan from the Irish Constitution and Bro Mufazzal Federal from the Indian Constitution also graced the occasion.

   2nd row: P. Venkatraman, Susan Snell, audience at the memorial meet

Merits of Masonry

Nestled behind a banyan tree opposite the Sterling Cineplex at Fort, the Freemasons’ Hall built over 125 years ago has continued to intrigue the general public. Constructed exclusively from limestone with the interiors supported by Burma teak woodwork, it is home to nearly 100 Freemasonic bodies that assemble regularly. On the second floor of the edifice where the Masonic meetings are held are the rooms, designated as temples. The design and layout of each temple is consistent although its size may vary. On the ground floor are the grand dining rooms.

A "Freemasons’ Temple Tour” conducted by senior Freemason Bro P. Venkatraman introduced novices to the salient features of the Freemasonic order. "We are not a secret organization but an organization with secrets,” he emphasized. Just as a password is a secret for certain transactions, some of their features are not open to the public. For the last 10 years they have been holding intermittent programs where they invite those interested to learn about their functioning.

All the Freemasonic temples, inspired by King Solomon’s Temple, are built in the east-west direction with the Right Worshipful Master sitting in the east under the all-pervasive symbolic eye of God and the other members sitting in a U-formation, depending on their rank and seniority. The audience seated in the main Sandhurst Temple, while a closed door meeting was being simultaneously conducted in the adjacent temple, learnt about different symbolic features that remind Freemasons to lead a moral life. 

The ceiling in the temple represents the sky with the white morning star in the east, the moon in the west, the six skylights depicting the constellation of Ursa Major, the midday sun overhead and the letter G for God hanging in the center to denote that He is at the center of our existence and above us. In the middle of the temple stands the altar placed on a checkered flooring of black and white squares to remind members to face the ups and downs in life with equanimity. As members from different religious denominations continue to practice their own faith while adopting Freemasonic ideology, on the altar are placed the sacred books of all religions which are kept open when the meeting is in progress. 

"Freemasonry is a beautiful and profound system of morality, veiled in allegories and illustrated by symbols,” stated Venkatraman. This movement evolved from the guilds of stonemasons and cathedral builders of the Middle Ages. With the decline of cathedral building, some lodges of operative (working) masons began to accept honorary members to bolster their declining membership. "From a few of these lodges developed modern symbolic or speculative Freemasonry which, particularly in the 17th  and 18th centuries, adopted the rites and trappings of ancient religious orders and of chivalric brotherhoods,” it is explained on Britannica.com. 

Newcomers to the Order, equated with a rough stone, join as Entered Apprentices wearing a plain white apron. As they advance in the Order, they become more polished and wear different aprons that denote their rank. However it is incumbent on Freemasons, whatever be their rank or status to accord equal respect and courtesy to all while being fair and virtuous in their dealings.

The ubiquitous square and compass emblem is seen throughout the Freemasons’ Hall: on the walls, on the furniture and even atop Cama’s bust. The square (two fixed perpendicular flat edged arms that form a perfect right angle) is a reminder for all Masons to be upright in their morals while the compass that draws a circle signifies the bounds within which they should lead a temperate life. 

Their three cardinal principles of "brotherly love, relief and truth” can be equated with the Hindu philosophy of bhakti yoga (for devotion to God requires a love for one’s fellow being), karma yoga (or altruistic service) and gnyan yoga (application of wisdom to unravel the universal law), stated Limathwalla. In addition to their administrative duties and ceremonial work, they also regularly perform charitable acts without publicizing them. Believing literally in "the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God,” the Lodges that meet at the Freemasons’ Hall do not permit females at their ceremonial meetings. However, they have now introduced a Ladies Group to involve women in their charitable projects. The guests were informed that there are a couple of lodges in London and one in Gurgaon that has only lady members. Additionally, there is the Co-Freemasonic movement as an allied activity of The Theosophical Society that admits both male and female members.

Incorporated in the Lodge ceremonies are hymns invoking the blessings and guidance of God, the "Great Architect.” While the pre-recorded Opening and Closing Odes reposing their trust in God were relayed on screen at the memorial meeting, members present joined in the singing. The main Temple also houses a magnificent pipe organ, reportedly the third largest of such musical instruments in India.

The global body of Freemasons take pride that included in their ranks were the likes of music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, members of the royal families as also erstwhile Presidents of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr S. Radhakrishnan and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Industrialists like Sir Dorabji Tata and J. R. D. Tata too were Freemasons, stated the evenings’s compere Zarine Commissariat. The Freemasons acknowledge though that they are not "the repository of all the goodness in the world. We provide members with tools to become better human beings.”