Masonic Temple (Lahore)

The first Masonic Temple of the Lodge of Hope and Perseverance was built in 1859 at Anarkali, Lahore.[https://books.google.com/books?id=alMFAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22Lahore%22+%22Masonic+Temple%22&pg=PA356 "Laying the Foundation Stone of a Masonic Hall at Anarkullee"] - The Freemasons' quarterly (magazine and) review, p. 356, 5 November 1859 Its site on Lodge Road is now occupied by Lady Maclagan Government High School.{{cite news |author=Majid Sheikh |title=Walking to Charing Cross |url=http://www.dawn.com/2003/09/21/fea.htm |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |date=21 September 2003 |accessdate=10 September 2010}}

The second Masonic Temple was built in 1914, using the foundation stone from its predecessor,{{cite book |author=Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry |title=Lahore: Glimpses of a Glorious Heritage |year=1998 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |pages=202–207 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIPjAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA202 |isbn=978-969-35-0944-1 }} on land that had once been a garden.{{cite news |author=Majid Sheikh |title=Walking to Charing Cross |url=http://www.dawn.com/2003/09/21/fea.htm |quote=a map of the Charing Cross area, drawn by the British in 1867, makes interesting reading. The area from the crossing, going eastwards, has nothing but gardens on the right. Where today stands the Masonic Hall has a beautiful 'circular garden' |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |date=21 September 2003 |accessdate=31 August 2010 }} The new temple was designed by Basil M. Sullivan, Consulting Architect to the government of Punjab, and mirrored the Shah Din Building, across the street along the Queens Road. It was later renovated for use by the Punjab Chief Minister's Secretariat. Due to recent additions to the Shah Din building, the two buildings are no longer mirror images of each other.{{cite journal| last=Naz| first=N.|author2=Z. Ashraf |date=Jan 2008| title=Transformation of Urban Open Spaces of Lahore: From Charing Cross to Faisal Square| journal=Pakistan Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences| volume=2| url=http://www.uet.edu.pk/export/sites/UETWebPortal/research/researchinfo/journal/volume2/9.pdf | pages=65–78 }}

The author and poet Rudyard Kipling was made a Mason in the Lodge of Hope and Perseverance in 1885, at the original lodge building, under a dispensation allowing him to be initiated before his 21st Birthday. He served as secretary of the Lodge following his initiation.Kipling and Freemasonry---MWBro. Robert A. Gordon PGM - G.L. P.E.I. He remained a member of the lodge for three years, demitting in 1889.Masonic biography of [http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/rudyardkipling.html Joseph Rudyard Kipling], Grand Lodge BC&Y He wrote of his time in the Lodge of Hope and Perseverance in "Something of Myself" and in a letter to the Times, describing "decorating the bare walls of the Masonic Hall with hangings after the prescription of King Solomon's Temple" and meeting members of many different religious faiths, including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews.{{cite book |author=H. Paul Jeffers |title=Freemasons: A History and Exploration of the World's Oldest Secret Society |year=2005 |publisher=Citadel Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/freemasonshistor0000jeff/page/192 192]–193 | url=https://archive.org/details/freemasonshistor0000jeff |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8065-2662-1 }} Kipling also references the original 1859 building in the opening scene of his novel Kim, describing it as "the big blue and white Jadoo-Gher—the School of Wizards, as we named the Masonic Lodge."{{cite book |author=Rudyard Kipling |title=Kim |year=1922 |publisher=Doubleday, Page and Company |location=Garden City, N.Y. |pages=2ff | url=https://archive.org/details/kim01kiplgoog }}{{cite book |author=Rudyard Kipling |editor=Alan Sandison |title=Kim |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/kimoxfordworldsc00rudy/page/2 2], 291 |quote=the Masonic Lodge: this is the lodge ('Hope and Perseverance no. 782 E.C.') to which Kipling was admitted in 1885.... | url=https://archive.org/details/kimoxfordworldsc00rudy |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-19-283513-0 }} One plot line in the book relates to a piece of paper in Kim's possession, a "clearance-certificate", which shows that his deceased father was a Mason. In 1914, long after Kipling had left India, the lodge demolished the building that Kipling described, and replaced it with the current one.

In 1972 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, placed a ban on Freemasonry and many other foreign organizations present in the country. The lodge was then disbanded and for a time the building was unused. It has been used as a multi-purpose Punjab government building."The office of this organization was set up at Free Mason [sic] Hall, which had been taken over from the Masonic Society. This building is now known as 90-Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam and the offices of the Chief Minister are located therein. ..." [https://books.google.com/books?id=-kLWAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Mason+Hall%22+%22Lahore%22 50 years of Lahore Arts Council, Alhamra] by the Alhamra Council[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb_sAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Mason+Hall%22+%22Lahore%22 "Evaluation of Seventh Five Year Plan, 1988-93"] by the Pakistan Planning Council, p. 151

In the late 1980s the Heritage Foundation Pakistan and concerned citizens of Lahore started a project to renovate the heritage buildings on the Mall road, including this building.Lari, Y. (2003). Lahore - Illustrated City Guide. Karachi, Pakistan: Heritage Foundation Pakistan 2003

• Freemasonry in Asia

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.ualberta.ca/~rnoor/masonic_lodge.html Masonic Lodge], RNoor website

{{The Mall, Lahore}}

Category:1860 establishments in India

Category:Buildings and structures in Lahore

Category:Freemasonry in Pakistan

Category:Historic sites in Pakistan

Category:History of Lahore

Category:Masonic buildings completed in 1914

Category:Office buildings in Lahore

Category:The Mall, Lahore

Category:Masonic buildings in Pakistan