Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan, the newly installed Grand Master of Grand Lodge of India.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A new pair of freemason hands has taken over the reins of the Grand Lodge of India (GLI). Freemasons from dozens and dozens of lodges across the country descended upon Chennai Trade Centre this weekend to witness and celebrate the installation of Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan as GLI’s 19th grandmaster for a tenure running from 2024 to 2027. And he is taking the baton from Anish Kumar Sharma.
He is GKS to both freemasons and the wider world outside freemasonry’s perimeter.
According to a press release shared with The Hindu, GKS is as multi-faceted a personality inside the freemason movement as he is widely known to be in the larger world.
He has had various calling cards, as lawyer (particularly in the area of arbitration), as a bold entrepreneur not shying away from new challenges. The release notes that he has forayed into real estate business and has many notable projects to his credit.
GKS, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of India with T. N. Manoharan, who is Regional Grand Master of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
His association with freemasonry spans 42 years and he has held significant positions in both regional as well as the Grand Lodge, where he is now donning the biggest role possible.
GKS is a admirable ritualist with the rare ability to reproduce verbatim, pages and pages of rituals fluently without a flaw, says the release.
GKS was also instrumental in restoring the free masons hall Ethiraj Salai way back in 2000. In recognition of his efforts in building freemasonry, he has had a has a lodge named after him, says the press release.
According to a note on GLI’s website, “The Grand Lodge of India, with the approval of the Grand Board of General Purposes, consecrated a Craft Lodge in the name of “Lodge G.K.SELVARAJAN No.365” at Chennai on July 11, 2009.”
During his tenure as Regional Grand Master of Southern India (from January 2005 to March 2008), GKS “introduced the innovative concept of Area Meetings for each Area under the ARGMs, to enable the Lodges to perform better and to strengthen the bond of brotherhood. This concept was followed not only by his successor Regional Grand Masters, but also by the RGMs in other Regions as well. He introduced the office of “Officer-in-Charge” for the superior degrees to streamline the administration, says the note on the website.”
GKS has also had a long association with the Rotary movement.
Published – December 08, 2024 06:50 am IST