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The Grand Lodge of India (GLI) is the main governing body of Freemasonry within India, it was officially constituted on Friday 24 November 1961.
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There were three delegations from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, Grand Lodge of Ireland and Grand Lodge of England in that order.
Out of a total of 277 individual Lodges in India, 145 opted for the new Grand Lodge of India. This represented a little over 52 per cent of the Warranted Lodges in India.
Advent of Freemasonry in India
Freemasonry traces its roots in India in the early years of the 18th century. In 1730 officers of the East India Company held their meetings in Fort William in Calcutta. The number given to the Lodge was 72.
The Goshamal Baradari, Hyderabad, built in 1682 by Sultan Abul Hassan Tanasha, is the oldest building used as a Masonic Temple in India. Built in 1682, it was donated to the fraternity in 1872 by the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Philanthropy
The Grand Lodge of India supplies PV Solar module, charger/controller, storage batteries, LED lamps and electrical wiring from solar panels to houses in rural Uttara Kannada district specially karwar in Karnataka state. The Indian Grand Lodge organizes classrooms for children in prisons, help for disaster victims and solar lights to village students. The lodge has 425 branches in India with 25,000 members. The freemasons of India are hosting in New Delhi on Nov. 20.