List of converts to Hinduism explained

The following is a list of converts to Hinduism from other religions or a non-religious background.

From Abrahamic religions

Christianity

See main article: List of converts to Hinduism from Christianity.

• Nayanthara
• Julia Roberts
• Sati Kazanova
• Russell Brand^{[1] [2] [3]}
• E. C. George Sudarshan^[4]
• Jeffery D. Long^[5]

Islam

See main article: List of converts to Hinduism from Islam.

• Anirudh Gyan Shikha (1 June 1928 – 25 November 2006; popularly known as Anwar Shaikh
• Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi (born Waseem Rizvi) former member and chairman of the Shia Central Waqf Board.

Judaism

• Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) (1931–2019) – syncretist, and follower of the Hindu deity Hanuman. Professor of psychology at Harvard University.^[6]
• Tamal Krishna Goswami (born Thomas G. Herzig) (1946–2002) – governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.^[7]
• Lora Logic (b. 1960) – punk rock saxophonist with Poly Styrene's X-Ray Spex.
• Radhanath Swami (born Richard Slavin) (b. 1950) – prominent Bhakti yoga guru and a governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.^[8]

From other Indian-origin religions

This is list of converts from Indian-origin religions.

Buddhism

• Mihirakula  - Huna ruler.^[9]
• Rajasinghe I – Sri Lankan king who conquered Kandy.^[10]
• Rishabhadatta – Satrap viceroy.^[11]
• Rudradaman I  - Satrap ruler and conqueror of the Satavahanas.^[12]
• Vasudeva I – Kushan king
• Jayavarman III

Jainism

• Mahendravarman I – Pallava King and patron of the arts.^[13]
• Vishnuvardhana – King of Hoysala empire and prominent temple-builder.^[14]
• Tirunavukkarasar – Saivite saint and one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars.^[15]

Other

Other theist converts

• Mihirakula (r. c. 502–530) – Huna ruler.
• Heliodorus – Greek minister to King Bhagabhadra.^[16]
• Pamheiba (1690–1751) – Manipuri King^[17]
• Suhungmung – Ahom kingdom's ruler who extended Assam up to the Kamarupa Kingdom^[18]
• Supangmung – Ahom kingdom's ruler who recaptured Guwahati. Converted to Vaishnavism.^[19]
• Susenghphaa – Ahom king; during his rule the Ahom-Mughal conflicts began^[20]

Non-theistic converts

• Annie Besant – British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer, orator, and supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule.^[21]
• John Dobson (former atheist who became a believer in Vedanta) – astronomer and telescope designer.^{[22] [23]}
• Sita Ram Goel (former atheist) – Indian commentator, writer and Hindu activist.^[24]
• Chrissie Hynde (born 7 September 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the garage rock new wave band the Pretenders.
• Poly Styrene (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), singer with one of Britain's earliest punk rock bands, X-Ray Spex; earlier religious affiliation unknown (Poly Styrene had one Sudanese parent, possibly Muslim, and one British parent of unknown religion) .

Converts from undetermined former religion

• Agehananda Bharati (born Leopold Fischer) (1923–1991) – academic Sanskritist, a prolific author about religious subjects, and a Hindu monk in the Dasanami Sannyasi order.^[25]
• Alain Daniélou – French historian, intellectual, musicologist, and Indologist.^[26]
• Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker – Hare Krishna devotee. His initiated name is Krishna Kantha Dasa. He was initiated by Narayana Maharaja. He wrote a foreword to a book by Bhaktivinoda Thakur titled Sri Siksastaka.^[27]
• Geoffrey Giuliano – American biographer.^[28]
• Nina Hagen (follower of Haidakhan Babaji) – German singer.^[29]
• Joe Don Looney (follower of Swami Muktananda) – football player.^[30]
• J Mascis – lead vocalist, guitarist, and drummer for Dinosaur Jr.^[31]
• John McLaughlin (became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy) – jazz fusion guitar player.^[32]
• Lex Hixon (syncretist and disciple of Swami Nikhilananda) – poet, philosopher, spiritual practitioner and teacher.^[33]
• Sati Kazanova, Russian singer.^[34]
• Savitri Devi (born Maximiani Portas) – Greek-French writer and Nazi-sympathiser.^[35]
• Savitri Khanolkar (born Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros) – designer of Indias highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra.^[36]
• Mathias Rust – German daredevil pilot.^[37]
• Kelli Williams – American actress who played Lindsay Dole Donnell on the ABC legal drama The Practice.^[38]
• Sherlyn Chopra - Indian actress.^[39]

See also

• Category:Converts to Hinduism
  • List of converts to Hinduism from Islam
  • List of converts to Hinduism from Christianity
  • List of converts to Hinduism from Buddhism
• List of former Hindus
  • List of converts to Islam from Hinduism
  • List of converts to Christianity from Hinduism
  • List of converts to Sikhism from Hinduism
  • List of converts to Buddhism from Hinduism

References

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2. Web site: Jumpsuits make red carpet style statement . 4 September 2013 .
3. Web site: Russell Brand Marries Again, with an India-themed Party . 29 August 2017 .
4. News: Meet Indian genius ECG Sudarshan who converted to Hinduism was controversially denied Nobel prize . DNA India . Kanetkar . Riddhima .
5. News: My journey to Hindu Dharma . Medium . Long . Jeffery .
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20061108083028/http://www.ramdass.org/Biography/tabid/331/Default.aspx Ram Dass – the official interactive Satsang site for author (Be Here Now) and spiritual teacher Ram Dass
7. Religious Conversion: Contemporary Practices and Controversies, page 3, Christopher Lamb, M. Darroll Bryant
8. Web site: Home . radhanathswami.com.
9. Book: Thakur. Upendra. The Hunas in India. Sircar. D. C. 1967. The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office. Varanasi. English. 469073765.
10. http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/portu/dona.htm Dona Catherina: the last empress of Lanka
11. Divatia 42
12. Book: Divatia, N. B. . Gujarati Language and Literature . Asian Educational Services . 1993 . 81-206-0648-5 .
13. Kan Sastri, A History of South India, p382-383
14. Book: Rice, Benjamin Lewis. Mysore, by districts. 1897. A. Constable. 295. en.
15. Web site: A brief History of Tamil People (by Prof. A. Velupillai). 2021-09-01. tamilelibrary.org.
16. Book: Basham, A L. The Wonder That Was India. The Wonder That Was India. Taplinger Pub. Co.. 1967. Oxford. 60. AL Basham.
17. Book: Sheram, AK . 2012 . Manipuri, The . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Manipuri,_The . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
18. Shimray, R.R. Origin and Culture of Nagas. Pamleiphi Shimray, 1985
19. [Maheswar Neog|Neog, Maheshwar]
20. Krishna, Manmohan. Political Consciousness in Indian English Writing: A Study Of Manohar Malgonkar, Naintara Sahgal & Bhabani Bhattacharya.1991, Bahri Publications.
21. Web site: Theosophy : Building of the Cosmos by Annie Besant. 2021-09-01. www.anandgholap.net.
22. Web site: John Dobson: Amateur Astronomy's Revolutionary . space.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060409214808/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_000507.html . 9 April 2006 .
23. Web site: Wall Street Journal Article about John. 2021-09-01. www.sidewalkastronomers.us.
24. Web site: How I Became A Hindu - Chapter 1 - From Arya Samaj to Mahatma Gandhi. 2021-09-01. voiceofdharma.com.
25. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/bharati_agehananda.html Agehananda Bharati
26. Book: Aldrich . Robert . 2015 . Sojourners and the Seduction of Ceylon . https://books.google.com/books?id=rY7ZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 . Cultural Encounters and Homoeroticism in Sri Lanka: Sex and Serendipity . . . 1st . Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia . 147 . 9781138491502 . 943053586.
27. [Bhaktivinoda Thakura]
28. Web site: Former Ronald McDonald Turns Vegetarian Activist . Hinduism Today . March 1991 . 6 February 2007.
29. Web site: Nina Hagen Das. 2021-04-25. ninahagendas.beepworld.de.
30. Book: Dozier, Ray. The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia. 2006. Sports Publishing LLC. 978-1-58261-699-5. en.
31. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=134&csid2=9&fid1=39566 exclaim.ca
32. Web site: Adherents.com - Online Payday Loans - Same Day Payout. https://web.archive.org/web/19990422162501/http://www.adherents.com/. usurped. 22 April 1999. 2021-04-25. Adherents.com. en.
33. http://www.lexhixon.org/simplesite/simplefrm.html Lex Hixon.org
34. Web site: RIR. Shalupenko. Yekaterina. 2016-07-21. The Russian singer who charmed Modi. 2021-04-25. www.rbth.com. en-US.
35. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism, page 183, Mattias Gardell, 2003
36. Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle, p.21, Major General Ian Cardozo, 2003
37. Web site: 2001-04-21. German daredevil grounded by court. 2021-04-25. the Guardian. en.
38. http://www.movietome.com/people/1517/kelli-williams/trivia.html Kelli Williams Quotes and Trivia at MovieTome
39. Web site: Recently, I got to know about Sanatan Dharma..