Freemasons Lodge Building (Karachi)

24°51′12″N 67°01′35″E

Freemasons Lodge Building
General information
Architectural style	Colonial era
Location	Karachi, Pakistan
Country	Pakistan
Current tenants	Sindh Wildlife Department
Inaugurated	1914
Client	Pakistan government
Owner	Pakistan government

Freemasons Lodge Building in Karachi, Pakistan is a historic building built in 1914, during British rule, situated near D.J. Sindh Govt. Science College at Molana Din Muhammad Wafai Road.

The Freemasons Lodge was built by the Freemason's Trust in 1914 and was made of yellow sandstone.^[1] It was used for many years for meetings of the Freemason Society. Local people called it "jadoo ghar," meaning "House of Sorcery."^[2][3][4]

The building was taken over by the government after Freemasonry was banned in Pakistan in 1972 under the rule of President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.^[5] In the early 1990s it was allocated to the Sindh Wildlife Department,^[6] and it is now used by the Sindh Wildlife Fund.^[7] Around 2001, it was declared a protected heritage site under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Act of 1994.^[6] As of early 2009, renovations and preservation activity were underway, with plans to use part of the building as a museum.^[2]

Gallery

• 
  The lodge houses a small library
• 
  Exhibition space inside the lodge
• 
  Wooden staircase near the entry

References

1. The Herald. Pakistan Herald Publications. 1991. p. 102.
2. Amar Guriro (January 4, 2009). "Renovation of the historical Freemason Lodge initiated". Daily Times (Pakistan).
3. Peerzada Salman, Masonic mystique^{[permanent dead link]}, Dawn.com, Sunday, 13 Dec, 2009
4. Handbook of Freemasonry. BRILL. 2014-06-12. p. 251. ISBN 978-90-04-27312-2.
5. Salman, Peerzada (2009-12-13). "Masonic mystique". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
6. Amar Guriro, Culture department takes notice of Freemason Lodge Building, Daily Times (Pakistan), Tuesday, September 30, 2008
7. Somaya, Brinda; Mehta, Urvashi (2000). An Emancipated Place: The Proceedings of the Conference and Exhibition Held in Mumbai, February 2000 : Women in Architecture, 2000 Plus : a Conference on the Work of Women Architects : Focus South Asia. Hecar Foundation. ISBN 978-81-7525-194-6.