Cauvery Lodge 3848 E.C. Tanjore was inaugurated and consecrated on 27th July, l9l8 at an imposing ceremony attended by a large gathering of Masons including twenty officers from The District Grand Lodge of Madras, thirty-two visiting brethren and twenty-two founder members. W.Bro. C.R.M. Schmidt, the Deputy District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Madras occupied the Eastern chair. W.Bro. Rev. A.F. Gardiner acted as the Senior Warden and W.Bro. P.M. Sivagnana Mudaliar, Past District Grand Warden acted as the Junior Warden. In a solemn ceremony, W.Bro. J.R. Huggins who was a past Warden of Lodge Pandian, then the District Collector of Tanjore was installed as the Master of the Lodge. W.Bro. Appasamy Vandaiyar was installed as the Senior Warden and W.Bro. C.H. Hill was installed as the Junior Warden.
The Founders of Cauvery Lodge No. 3848 E.C. Tanjore 27th July 1918
Thus, Cauvery Lodge No. 3848 E.C. was ushered into its glorious existence bearing the name of the sacred river Cauvery which is held in veneration and which has made Thanjavur district the garden and granary of South India. It may be of interest to note that the petition for warrant was forwarded to United Grand lodge of England through the District Grand lodge of Madras on 2nd December, 1917. Lodge Rock No. 260 Tiruchirappalli, one of the oldest lodges in the district recommended the request and the warrant was issued on 15th March, 1918. In 1934, a memorial stone of fine dressed granite with the inscription of square and compasses enclosing the letter “C” signifying Cauvery Lodge was laid in the Mettur dam. It is a symbol not only of the connection between operative and speculative Masonry but also a link between Mettur dam, the holy river Cauvery and Cauvery Lodge.
The founder Aravamutha Iyengar, the commemorative stone that the Lodge Members placed to commemorate the inauguration of works at the Mettur Dam in 1934 and the first meeting of the Lodge.
From the date of consecration on 27th July, 1918, the meetings were in the first floor of M. Abraham Pandithar’s Lawley electric printing press. Thereafter, the present site was acquired on lease for a period of 99 years from 1919 from the Thanjavur municipality. The site was taken possession on 1st June, 1922. and the building was constructed soon thereafter.
On the 20th January, 1923, R.W.Bro. A.Y.G. Campbell then The District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Madras laid the foundation stone for the Lodge building.
An Installation meeting was held on 28th of July 1923. Ever since then meetings have been held with regularity till today for a Century! But there were only three exceptions. 1000th meeting of Cauvery Lodge was held on 23rd February 2001.
Ever since the Lodge was built in 1923 periodic additions such as guest rooms, servants quarters Portico were added.
An annex was opened by R.W.Bro. T.V. Muthukrishna Aiyer, then the R.W. District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Madras on the 22nd March, 1952.
Renovation of Freemasons’ Guest house was done in year 2000 and opened by W. Bro. J.S. Krishnamoorthy on 16th September, 2000.
Renovation of the dining hall was completed and R.W. Bro. K.R.N. Menon, the R.W. District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Madras opened it on 10th July, 2010.
In 2017, new air conditioners installed, additional guest rooms, new rest rooms and compound wall were constructed.
All these developments and upkeep of the building in very good condition was made possible by the generous contributions from the Lodge members.
Half yearly meeting of the District Grand Lodge of Madras was held under the banner of Cauvery Lodge Thanjavur as early as in 1939 and subsequently, in the years, 1954, 1968, 1981, 1995, 2004, 2012 & 2018.
Silver jubilee celebrations were conducted in the presence of R.W.Bro. Sir George Townsend Boag, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., I.C.S. the R.W. District Grand Master of Madras on 24th July, 1943. Silver Jubilee Portico foundation stone was laid by R.W.Bro. Sir George Townsend Boag, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., I.C.S. and Portico was opened on 18th July 1953 by W.Bro. Bava C. Gopalaswami Mudaliar.
Golden jubilee celebrations were conducted in the presence of R.W.Bro. Lt. Col. G.S. Gill, the R.W. District Grand Master held at Sangeetha Mahal on 14th September, 1968.
Diamond Jubilee celebrations were conducted in the presence of R.W.Bro. A.P. Tampi, the R.W. District Grand Master of Madras on 10th April, 1982.
Centenary celebration of Cauvery Lodge and the half yearly Meeting of the District Grand Lodge of Madras was held in presence or the R.W.Bro. T.A. Devagnanam, District Grand Master held at Maharaja Mahal Thanjavur on 9th and 10th August 2018.
Another special occasion was the Masonic night meeting on the new year day of 2018. A very large number of the wives of our Lodge Brethren participated with lot of interest. An exhaustive lecture on the history, and details of masonry was given by the senior most Brethren of our Lodge followed by an interactive sessions with them. Many of the visitors raised a number of doubts about Masonry and seemed convinced that their husbands were after all taking part in some good charity work and service to fellow human beings. Feed Back from our Brethren following this meeting was that they did not have to face the usual practice of giving uneasy explanations to their wives on the second Saturday of every month for coming to the Lodge for the regular meetings.
