Jaipur's Brotherhood Since 1961

Thereis a place in Jaipur that most of the city has never heard of. It has no signboard on a busy street, no advertisement in a newspaper, and no sponsored post in your social media feed. Yet it has been meeting, without interruption, since 27 February 1961. It has welcomed hundreds of men through its doors. It has marked births, mourned deaths, celebrated promotions, supported families through hardship, and quietly shaped some of the most principled professionals this city has produced. It is Lodge Kohinoor No. 139, and it is time Jaipur knew it was here.

Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest and most widely misunderstood fraternities. Founded in its modern form in London in 1717, it has grown over three centuries into a global brotherhood present in nearly every country on earth. In India, Freemasonry has been active since the 18th century, and the Grand Lodge of India — established after independence — today oversees lodges in every major city of the subcontinent. Lodge Kohinoor No. 139 was warranted in November 1959 and consecrated on 27 February 1961, making it the oldest active Masonic lodge in Jaipur. From it, two further lodges have been born: Lodge Xavier No. 459 and Lodge Rajputana No. 460, both consecrated in 2018. Lodge Kohinoor is the mother lodge of Jaipur's Masonic family.

At its heart, Freemasonry is a society of men who have committed to a set of principles: Integrity, Friendship, Respect, and Service. These are not abstract ideals. They are practised — in the way lodge members conduct their businesses, raise their families, treat strangers, and show up for one another when life becomes difficult. The lodge is where that commitment is renewed, month after month, in a setting that is unlike any other in a man's professional or personal life.

Jaipur is a city of craft, heritage, and community. Its identity is built on the skill of its artisans, the pride of its history, and the warmth of its people. Freemasonry, rooted as it is in the traditions of the great craftsmen — the stonemasons who built the cathedrals of Europe and the temples of the ancient world — fits this city naturally. The values that Lodge Kohinoor has practised for 65 years are the same values that Jaipur has always celebrated: the dignity of honest work, the honour of keeping one's word, and the responsibility of the stronger to look after the less fortunate.

Across the world, Freemasonry is experiencing a quiet renaissance. The United Grand Lodge of England — the oldest and most respected Masonic body in the world — has in recent years adopted what it calls a new spirit of openness, publishing the personal journeys of its members and inviting the public to understand what a lodge really is.

The Masons of California launched their #ImAMason campaign in 2023, asking every member to share, simply and honestly, what their lodge means to them. That campaign reached nearly nine million people. Not through clever marketing, but through truth told by real men about real experiences.

Lodge Kohinoor No. 139 is telling its own story, for the first time, in the same spirit. Not to recruit, not to sell, but to inform. Jaipur deserves to know that for 65 years, a brotherhood built on the finest human values has been meeting in this city — and that its door has always been open to the worthy man who is ready to ask.

If you are curious — about what Freemasonry is, about what Lodge Kohinoor does, about whether it might be the right home for a man like you — visit jaipurfreemasons.in. The lodge is here. It always has been.