Lodge Aruvi No. 293
Lodge Aruvi No.293 had its Installation Meeting on the 4th of March 2006 at Courtallam. Representative of, R W Bro. Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan PAGM, the Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India, W Bro. D Santhi Kumar PAGD of C, Assistant Regional Grand Master attended the Meeting. Bro. Rajagopal Sridhar was installed in the Eastern Chair by W Bro. I A Chidambaram, Past Master of Lodge Aruvi No.293, in a very impressive manner. The Charge to the Master was delivered by the Representative of the Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master. The Charge to the Wardens and to the Brethren were delivered by R W Bro. K R Rajasekharan Nayar OSM and W Bro. T Ravindran respectively. There was very good representation by Brethren from many Lodges. Brethren. Lodge Southern Cross No. 46, Lodge Thamiravarni No 289, Lodge Pearl City No.290 Lodge Vivekananda No.254, Lodge Palai No.318, Lodge Trivandrum No.168, Lodge Ananathapadmanabha No. 280, and Lodge Travancore No.329 were represented. There were 55 Brethren present at the Installation Meeting including 21 visitors.

Before the Meeting there was a Charity Project. A sum of Rs.2000/= was given as donation to AVVAI ASHRAM run by the Gandhigram Trust for their Childrens Home & Teachers Training School. The sum was given as a personal donation by Bro. Rajagopalan Sridhar, the incoming Master.

The Representative in his address congratulated the Installing Officer W Bro. I A Chidambaram for the excellent ceremony presented. He also paid tributes to W Bro. Krishnamoorthy, the IPM for looking after the affairs of the Lodge during the previous year. He stressed the need to have more members from and around Tenkasi and also to give more importance to charity projects.

About a week before the Installation Ceremony, Bro. Rajagopalan Sridhar, the incoming Worship Master of Lodge Aruvi No.293 arranged a Seminar for the new Masons of the Lodge. The topics discussed were Dress Code, Apron, Seating, Collars, Behaviour, Salutes, Offices, and Toasts etc. The Seminar was attended by 14 delegates. The Seminar was directed and conducted by W Bro. A Jayapalan P DyRGM. The participants appreciated the seminar and there were requests for more of such meetings.

Lodge Vanchinad No.273
The Regular Meeting (Election Meeting) of the Lodge was held on the 5th of March 2006. 25 Brethren were present.

Bro. R Jayaprasad was elected to be the Worshipful Master for the year 2006-2007. Bro. K Surendran Pillay was elected as the Treasurer and Bro. R Ajith as Tyler.

Bro. Ashok Kumar was passed to the degree of a Fellow Craft by the Wprshipful Master W Bro. DR Balachandra Kurup in a very impressive ceremony. The Brethren voted to present a Past Masters Jewel to W Bro. Balachandra Kurup.

Lodge Ananthapdmanabha No. 280
The 195th Regular meeting was held on the 10th March 2006. 46 Brethren attended the Meeting including W Bro. D Santhi Kumar ARGM and 11 other visitors. Mr. Arun Varghese was initiated into the mysteries & privileges of Freemasonry by the Worshipful Master, W Bro. D S Padmanabhan Nair, in a very impressive ceremony. He was assisted by Bro. Ranjit Karthikeyan who presented the Working Tools and Bro. Oommen Aju Jacob who explained the Tracing Board. The Charge after Initiation was delivered by the ARGM.

A very laudable on going Charity Project has been taken up by the Lodge. The Lodge will be contributing amounts every month to the Paediatric Oncology Department of the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum to purchase Medicines (like growth hormones) which are needed to augment the radiation & chemotherapy. In the morning the Worshipful Master W Bro. D S Padmanabhan Nair, and the ARGM along with W Bro T J Babu Sebastian. Bro. A Retna Kumar and the candidate for initiation, Mr. Arun Varghese visited the Paediatric Ward in RCC. Bro. Dr Rajnish Kumar (Lodge Trivandrum No.168) Oncologist at RCC, who assisted in facilitating this project was also present. The project was inaugurated by the ARGM by handing over the contribution for March 2006 to Dr. Kusumam, Professor in the Paediatric Department.

The ARGM after conveying the fraternal greetings on behalf of the RGM, R W Bro. Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan, congratulated the new initiate Bro. Arun Varghese. He also expressed his appreciation for the excellent ceremony presented by the Worshipful Master. W Bro. D S Padmanabhan Nair. Bro. Ranjith Karthikeyan (Working Tools) Bro. Oommen Aju Jacob (Tracing Board) Bro. K Krishna Kumar (JD) were also congratulated on their performances. He congratulated the WM & the Brethren for the wonderful laudable ongoing Charity Project taken up by the Lodge at the Cancer Centre.

Lodge Vivekananda No.254
The 281st Regular Meeting of the Lodge was held at the Vivekananda Masonic Trust Building, Kanyakumari on the 11th of March 2006.

Dr. Ponnusamy R Rajan, Medical Practitioner was favourably balloted and then initiated into the mysteries and privileges of freemasonry in a very impressive ceremony by the Worshipful Master W Bro. Dr. Gopal Surendran. He was ably assisted by Bro. Dr G Rajasekhar who delivered the North East Charge; Bro. Kamalahasan who presented the Working Tools, Bro. Dr Ajith Raghuvaran who delivered the Charge after Initiation and Bro. T Gokul who explained the Tracing Board. These Brethren assisted the Worshipful Master in excellent manner.

The Worshipful Master Invested the following Brethren in their respective offices:

W Bro. Dr G Raghuvaran as Assistant Secretary
W Bro. S Nagarajan & Bro. C N Raja as BVSL
Bro. Dr B Senthil & Bro. Dr. Suresh Sathiasekhar as Stewards

Grand Lodge Certificate was presented to Bro. Dr. Krishnakumar & Bro. Dr Balasubramaniam Senthil.

Masonic Information was read by Bro. Dr Balasubramaniam Senthil

Lodge Trivandrum No.168
The Regular Meeting of March was held on 18th March 2006. 35 Brethren were present.

Bro. Kesavan Chandramohan was passed to the Degree of a Fellow Craft by the Worshipful Master, W Bro. DR V J Thomas in a very impressive ceremony. He was assisted by Bro. Chacko Varghese who presented the Working Tools & Bro. P Vijay Kumar who explained the Tracing Board. W Bro. P B Menon presented the Masonic Education Paper entitled “The Tylers Wisdom”, which was well received.

Mr. P V Sanjeev Kumar was favourably balloted for Initiation.

A Charity Programme was taken up before the Meeting commenced. Mr. Joseph Varkey was handed over the 2nd Installment for his Cancer Treatment. Dhanya Dhan – 25 Kgs of rice was donated to a very poor family from Pongumood, Sreekariyam. It was received by the head of the family Sri. Krishna Pillay.

Lodge Palai No.318
The Regular Meeting of the Lodge was held by dispensation on the 18th of March 2006 at Zakir Gardens, Pala. 15 Members were present. 2 Visitors including the ARGM, W Bro. D Santhi Kumar attended the Meeting. Bro. Thomas Joseph Maliakal was passed to the Degree of a Fellow Craft by the Worshopful Master W Bro. Ittyavira Abraham Kallivayalil in a very impressive manner. He was ably assisted by Bro. Thomas Jose Kallivayalil, the Senior Deacon and Bro. Abraham Kurian Kallivayalil ( presented the Working Tools ) whose performances were superb. The Tracing Board was explained by the ARGM.

The ARGM after conveying the fraternal greetings on behalf of the RGM, R W Bro. Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan, congratulated the Worshipful Master, W Bro. Ittyavira Abraham Kallivayalil, Bro. Thomas Jose Kallivayalil and Bro. Abraham Kurian Kallivayalil for their excellent performances. The need for the Brethren to procure a land for the Lodge and also to have a Temple of their own was reiterated by the ARGM and he offered all help and assistance to the Brethren in this regard. The ARGM also requested the Brethren to take up worthwhile Charity Projects in future.

Lodge Travancore No.329
The Regular meeting of the Lodge was held on Sunday the 26th March 2006 at the Freemasons’ Hall, Trivandrum. 23 Brethren were present including 2 visitors. The raising ceremony of Bro. Dr Madhav Naik Janardhan could not be taken up as Bro. Naik was unavoidably absent due to a medical emergency in his family. The ceremony was postponed and will be taken up on a suitable date. The Worshipful Master opened and closed the Lodge in all the three Degrees. The Grand Lodge Certificate was presented to Bro. Manoj Sukumaran Nair by the Worshipful Master.

The ARGM, W Bro. D Santhi Kumar who was present conveyed the fraternal greetings on behalf of the RGM, R W Bro. Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan.

The Thiruvananthapuram Masonic Trust met on the 17th of March 2006. R W Bro. K R Rajasekharan Nayar OSM, the Managing Trustee Chaired the Meeting. Eight Members of the Trust were present.

Bro. Krishna Kumar of Lodge Trivandrum No.168, who is a well known Builder was invited to the meeting as a special invitee. W Bro. K R Rajasekharan Nayar explained the present position of the Trust Building to Bro. Krishna Kumar and the intention of the Trust to caste a concrete roof for the 1st floor as early as possible. The Trust has at present resources to carry out this work and requested the services of Bro. Krishna Kumar. After some deliberations it was agreed upon that Bro. Krishna Kumar will provide the men and material to complete the first floor. The one condition being that the amounts for the material & work is to be settled directly by the Trust as Bro. Krishna Kumar does not want any amounts to go through his accounts. The work will start by the 3rd week of April & will be over by the month end. R W Bro. K R Rajasekharan Nayar will be following this up. After this work is over the Trust members will put in all their efforts to augment more funds from the members to complete the project.

A Workshop for the Worshipful Masters & Secretaries of the Lodges in the Area under the ARGM was organized on the 26th of March 2006 at the Freemasons’ Hall Trivandrum. All the Lodges in the Area were represented at the Workshop. There were mainly 2 sessions: 1. Lodge Administration 2. Ritual Working Competition (First Stage) The session on Lodge Administration was handled by W Bro. A Jayapalan. All aspects of Lodge Administration, Viz: Summons, Meetings, RGL & GLI Returns, Installation returns, Past Masters Returns, RGL & GLI Dues, Correspondence with RGL & GLI, Protocols, Decorum etc were discussed. The next Session on Ritual Working Competition (First Stage) was taken up by W Bro. R Sushil Raj. Details about the Ceremony for the Competition - Initiation and opening & closing the Lodge in all the three Degrees - Judges who will assist the ARGM for the Competition were announced. The dates being allotted for each Lodge was discussed and finalized. All first stage competitions are to be over before the 15th of July 2006.

The Judges who will assist the ARGM:

W Bro. T J Babu Sebastian - Lodge Ananthapadmanabha No.280
W Bro. R Sri Kumar - Lodge Vanchinad No.273
W Bro. S M Ashraf – Lodge Travancore No.329

Dates proposed for the Competition (First Stage)

The delegates did raise some queries and these were satisfactorily answered by the faculty members. The delegates expressed their appreciation of the Workshop and requested that such workshops be organized in future also. The Workshop closed with the ARGM thanking the delegates & faculty members for their participation & contributions.

R W Bro. His Highness MarthandaVarma PGJW, member of Lodge Ananthapadmanabha No.280 celebrated his SATHABHISHEKHAM (85th Birthday) on the 24th of Mach 2006. Members of the Lodge, (W Bro. D S Padmanabhan Nair, (Worhipful Master) R W Bro. K R Rajasekharaan Nayar OSM, R W Bro. M Ramaswamy Iyer, W Bro. T Ravindran , W Bro. Krishnamoorthy, W Bro. M R Sukumaran Nair,W Bro. T J Babu Sebastian, & Bro. Retnakumar) along with the ARGM, W Bro. D Santhi Kumar called on His Highness and wished him many happy returns of the day. W Bro. D S Padmanabhan Nair presented a Bouquet of Flowers on behalf of Lodge Aanathapadmanabha No.280. ARGM conveyed greetings on behalf of M W Bro. Arun Chintopanth OSM, Most Worshipful the Grand Master and presented a Bouquet of flowers on behalf of the Most Worshipful the Grand Master.

The contributions to MASONSOUTH and the advertisement from the Lodges for the Masonic Hand Book. Please do send it across if not already done.

Send the applications for the First Stage Ritual Working Competition without fail.

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