(by Yomal Senerath-Yapa, The Sunday Times, August 24, 2025)
A legacy from the British colonial era, when the hill country was a misty wilderness with plantations set in elephant and leopard-infested jungle, the Dimbula Lodge 298 – a Freemason Lodge under the Grand Lodge of Ireland – was formed in that hill station in 1874.
Pioneering upcountry planters were the Brethren of this Lodge (‘Lodge’ being Masonic parlance for a branch) and even today, as they celebrate their 150th year, the fraternity is almost entirely made up of planters.
Dimbula, in fact, was the only Masonic Lodge in the country outside Colombo when it was founded, and had John Tilly for Worshipful Master with a handful of Brethren (members).
They met each month on the first Saturday before or after full moon and so it was soon christened the ‘Moonlight Lodge’- periya-durai brethren riding in from their bungalows at night. There was no fixed meeting place at first. They met in Nuwara Eliya, and later shifted to the Adam’s Peak Hotel in Hatton when this was established in 1895.
Celebrating their sesquicentennial, the Dimbula Lodge held a grand banquet at the Cinnamon Grand last week, when the members (38 strong) and their families gathered for camaraderie and good food which have always been “synonymous with the Lodge”, according to its current head, Worshipful Master Saman Kumara P.B.N.
In today’s world, Freemasonry may be associated with…
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Dimbula, in fact, was the only Masonic Lodge in the country outside Colombo when it was founded, and had John Tilly for Worshipful Master with a handful of Brethren (members).
They met each month on the first Saturday before or after full moon and so it was soon christened the ‘Moonlight Lodge’- periya-durai brethren riding in from their bungalows at night. There was no fixed meeting place at first. They met in Nuwara Eliya, and later shifted to the Adam’s Peak Hotel in Hatton when this was established in 1895.
Celebrating their sesquicentennial, the Dimbula Lodge held a grand banquet at the Cinnamon Grand last week, when the members (38 strong) and their families gathered for camaraderie and good food which have always been “synonymous with the Lodge”, according to its current head, Worshipful Master Saman Kumara P.B.N.
In today’s world, Freemasonry may be associated with…
read more:
Celebrating their sesquicentennial, the Dimbula Lodge held a grand banquet at the Cinnamon Grand last week, when the members (38 strong) and their families gathered for camaraderie and good food which have always been “synonymous with the Lodge”, according to its current head, Worshipful Master Saman Kumara P.B.N.
In today’s world, Freemasonry may be associated with…
read more:
