Nagpur: Tarun Shrivastava, a Nagpur-based Freemason, has been named Regional Grand Master-designate of the Regional Grand Lodge of Western India (RGLWI), which oversees Masonic lodges in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. His three-year tenure will begin in 2027.The announcement was made by MW Bro G K Selvarajan, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of India, at a special meeting in Raipur on Oct 3. Shrivastava will succeed RW Bro Subhash L Saraf for a three-year term and is the fourth person from Nagpur to hold the post.Freemasonry has a long history with undocumented origins dating back almost a thousand years. However, its traceable journey began in England in the early 1700s. From there, the British established Masonic lodges across the world, which is how Freemasonry came to India. RGLWI functions under Grand Lodge of India. Other Masonic bodies, including lodges working under the Scottish and English constitutions, operate separately in the country and do not come under it.Shrivastava was initiated into Lodge Trimurty No. 294 in Nagpur on June 21, 1998, and became its Worshipful Master in 2005. He is currently Deputy Regional Grand Master of RGLWI and Second Principal of Regional Grand Chapter of Western India.He edited The Ashlar, a Masonic educational publication, from 2010 and was a Tutor in Masonic education for Grand Lodge of India. He has also been a founder of Mark Master Mason and Royal Ark Mariner lodges and has proposed or initiated more than 50 people into Freemasonry, according to details shared by his associates.Shrivastava also spearheaded the Panchvati Vrudha Ashram old-age home project in Nagpur, with construction blocks funded by Lodge Fellowship No. 140 of Ahmedabad.In 2019, he was elected to Grand Board of General Purposes for a four-year term. His service of nearly three decades has been marked by the Long-Term Service Jewels in Craft, Chapter and Mark, the last of which was presented to him in Raipur on Oct 3.
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