Ads

Friday, May 11, 2012

LIST OF FAMOUS CONVERTS TO SANATAN DHARMA

From Abrahamic religions
.
ISLAM
.
Bukka I - King of Vijayanagara empire who converted to Islam, then reconverted. The early life of Bukka as well as his brother Hakka (also known as Harihara I) are relatively unknown and most accounts of their early life are based on theories.
.
Nargis - noted Bollywood actress, politician, and social worker. Mother of actor Sanjay Dutt she converted to Hinduism and took the name of Nirmala Dutt on her marriage to actor Sunil Dutt
.
Annapurna Devi (born Roshanara Khan) - surbahar (bass sitar) player and music teacher in the North Indian classical tradition. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.
.
Harilal Mohandas Gandhi - son of Mahatma Gandhi. Upon converting to Islam he adopted the name Abdullah Gandhi, but later again reverted back to Hinduism.
.
Asha Gawli - (born Ayesha) Wife of Arun Gawli, notorious gangster turned politician from Mumbai, India. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.
.
Harihara I - King of Vijayanagara Empire who converted to Islam, then reconverted
.
Aashish Khan (born Ustad Aashish Khan Debsharma) - Indian musician
.
Hassan Palakkode - Malayali writer on Islam
.
Netaji Palkar - Maratha noble and commander-in-chief of the army of Shivaji, 19 June 1676

Sarmad - 17th century mystical poet and sufi saint, arrived from Persia to India, beheaded for assumed heresy by the Mughal emperor, Aurungzebe. Sarmad renounced Judaism, briefly converting to Islam and then Hinduism. He later denounced all religions and rejected belief in god.
.
Anwar Shaikh - British author.
.
Ifa Sudewi - Chief judge for the 2002 Bali bombing trials
.
Khushboo Sundar - Tamil movie actress. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.
.
Haridas Thakura - Prominent Vaishnavite saint, instrumental in the early appearance and spread of Hare Krishna movement.
.
Zubeida - Hindi film actress, on whose life story the film Zubeidaa was based. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.
.
Nalini Patel (born Nayyara Mirza) - Miss India finalist of 1967, was the first Muslim to participate in the pageant. She converted to Hinduism after marriage. She is settled in the USA
.
Sonam (born Bakhtawar Murad) - Wife of Bollywood director Rajiv Rai. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage. She is the niece of character actor Raza Murad and granddaughter of veteran character actor Murad. She is the cousin of actress Sanober Kabir.
.
.
CHRISTIANITY
.
George Harrison converted from Christianity to Hinduism
.
Julia Roberts converted from Christianity to Hinduism
.
Chantal Boulanger - French anthropologist who wrote widely on Tamil culture.
.
Russell Brand - British actor and comedian.

Job Charnock - British trade agent who has been controversially described as the founder of Calcutta

Ilan Chester - Venezuelan singer, keyboardist, arranger and composer

Alice Coltrane (raised Baptist but became a follower of Satya Sai Baba) - American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer

Michael Cremo - American creationist, author, and editor
Bhagavan Das (born Kermit Michael Riggs) - Western Yogi and former born again Christian

Roy Eugene Davis - American Kriya Yoga teacher

Krishna Dharma - British author and convert to Gaudiya Vaishnavism under ISKCON

David Frawley - author on Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda

Elizabeth Gilbert - author of Eat Pray Love

George Harrison - popular English musician, best known as a member of The Beatles who died chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra in the company of monks from ISKCON.[13] He is also known for donating Bhaktivedanta Manor, a Hindu temple to the Hare Krishna community in Britain.

Ilaiyaraaja - Tamil music director.

Christopher Isherwood - Anglo-American novelist

Jomol - Malayali actress

Swami Kriyananda (born J. Donald Walters) - direct disciple of the yogi Paramahansa Yogananda

Timothy Leary - Harvard professor and American writer and psychologist

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami - one of the eleven senior Americans selected to become an initiating guru in ISKCON.

Savitri Devi Mukherji (born Maximiani Portas) - French woman who became enamoured with Hinduism and Nazism, trying to synthesise Hinduism with Nazi philosophy and racial ideology

Sister Nivedita (born Margaret Elizabeth Noble) - Anglo-Irish social worker, author, and teacher

Leelawathy Ramanathan - Australia-born Hindu writer and activist. Converted upon marrying Ponnambalam Ramanathan

John Levy - British philosopher who translated books on Advaita Vedanta

Joseph Ritson - English antiquarian and traveller

Julia Roberts - American Actress.

Han Snel - Dutch painter of Bali

Satyananda Stokes - Famous English farmer in Himachal Pradesh

Bhakti Tirtha Swami (born John E. Favors) - American Hindu leader and disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Romapada Swami - Preacher of ISKCON

Kenneth R. Valpey - Gaudiya Vaishnava Theologian who studied at Oxford University, St. Cross College

Richard L. Thompson - American mathematician, academic, creationist, and author

Shaunaka Rishi Das (born Timothy Kiernan) - Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies


Judaism
.
Krishna Das (born Jeffrey Kagel) - singer who performs Indian chants called kirtans[citation needed]

Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) - syncretist, and follower of the Hindu deity Hanuman. Professor of psychology at Harvard University

Hridayananda Goswami (born Howard J. Resnick) - American spiritual leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Tamal Krishna Goswami (born Thomas G. Herzig) - governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness[citation needed]

Radhanath_Swami (born Richard Slavin) - is a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), author of The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami[citation needed]

.
From other Dharmic religions
.
Buddhism
.
Mihirakula - Huna ruler.

Rajasinghe I - Sri Lankan king who conquered Kandy

Rishabhadatta - Satrap viceroy

Rudradaman I - Satrap ruler and conqueror of the Satavahanas

Vasudeva I - Kushan king and numismatist

.
Jainism
.
Mahendravarman I - Pallava King and patron of the arts.

Vishnuvardhana - King of Hoysala empire and prominent temple-builder

Tirunavukkarasar - Saivite saint and one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars


Other
.
Other faiths and religions
.
Charairongba - Manipuri ruler.

Heliodorus - Greek minister to King Bhagabhadra

Pamheiba - Manipuri King
Suhungmung - Ahom kingdom ruler who extended Assam up to the Kamarupa Kingdom

Supangmung - Ahom kingdom ruler who recaptured Guwahati. Converted to Vaishnavism after a killing to make amends

Susenghphaa - Ahom king, during his rule the Ahom-Mughal conflicts began
.

From non-religious backgrounds
.
Annie Besant (former atheist) - Theosophist, orator and feminist

John Dobson (former atheist who became a believer in Vedanta) - astronomer and telescope designer

Sita Ram Goel (former atheist) - Indian commentator, writer and Hindu activist

.
Undetermined former religion
.
Agehananda Bharati (born Leopold Fischer) - academic Sanskritist, a prolific author about religious subjects, and a Hindu monk in the Dasanami Sannyasi order

Alain Daniélou (convert to Shaivism) - French historian, intellectual, musicologist, and Indologist

Ambarish Das (born Alfred Ford) - American businessman, great-grandson of Henry Ford, and a follower of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (the founder of ISKCON)

Urmila Devi Dasi (born Edith E. Best) - senior female ISKCON leader and educator

Geoffrey Giuliano - American biographer

Nina Hagen (follower of Haidakhan Babaji) - German singer

Aldous Huxley (disciple of Swami Prabhavananda) - English writer who emigrated to the United States, author of Brave New World

Joe Don Looney (follower of Swami Muktananda) - football player

J. Mascis - Lead vocalist, guitarist, and drummer for Dinosaur Jr.

John McLaughlin (became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy) - jazz fusion guitar player

Shaunaka Rishi Dasa (Irish convert and member of ISKCON) - founder of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

Lex Hixon (syncretist and disciple of Swami Nikhilananda) - poet, philosopher, spiritual practitioner and teacher

Mathias Rust - German daredevil pilot

J. D. Salinger - American author best known for The Catcher in the Rye

Kelli Williams - American actress who played Lindsay Dole Donnell on the ABC legal drama The Practice.

Ricky Williams - Miami Dolphins football player

Crispian Mills - English rock singer named Krishna Kantha dasa. He wrote a foreword to a book by Bhaktivinoda Thakur titled Sri Siksastaka.

Jeffrey Armstrong - Canadian Author, Speaker, Poet

No comments:

Post a Comment