List of people Converted to Hinduism from other religions

I always says that, why Hinduism is a great religions. Some famous people, who converted to Hinduism.

From Christianity

• Chantal Boulanger - French anthropologist who wrote wide in Tamil culture.
• Claudia Ciesla - German model, actress and singer embraced Hinduism and believes in Karma
• Job Charnock - British trade agent who has been controversially described as the founder of Calcutta.
• llan Chester - Venecuelan singer, keyboardist, arranger and composer.
• Alice Coltrane - Illuminations( raised Baptist but became a follower of Satrya Sai Baba) - American jazz pianist, organist, harpist and composer.
• Michael Cremo - American creationist, author and editor
• Bhagavan Dast - (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 ISKON
• David Frawley - author on Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda 
• Elizabeth Gilbert - author of Eat Pray Love
• George Harrison - popular Musician, best known as a member of THE BEATLES who died chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra in the company of monks from ISKON. He is also known for donating Bhaktivedanta Manor, a Hindu temple to the Hare Krishna community in Britain.
• Lawrence Raghavendra - Tamil and Telugu choreographer, film actor, director, composer and Philanthropist.
• Christopher Isherwood - Anglo-American novelist
• Jomol - Malayali Actress
• Lizy - (born Aliyamma Malayalam of Elizabeth adopted the name Lakshmi) Malayalam 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 American selected to become an initiating guru in ISKON
• Savitri Devi Mukherji - (born Maximiani Portas) French woman who became enamored with Hinduism and Nazism, trying to synthesise Hinduismwith 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
• Annie - (Actress) and(born Annie Jobbie adopted the name Chitra) Malayalam Actress
• Joseph Ritson - English antiquarian and traveler
• 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 ISKON
• Kenneth R..  Valpey - Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology who studied at Oxford University, St. Cross College
• Shaunaka Rishi Das - (born Timothy Kiernan) Director of the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
• Nayantara - (born Diana Mariam Kurian) South Indian Actress, model

From Islam

• Bukka I - king of Vijayanagara Empire who converted to Islam, then reconverted.
• Nargis - noted Bollywood actress, politician and social workers.  Mother of actor Sanjay Dutt. She converted to Hinduism and took the name of Nirmala Dutton on her marriage to actore Sunil Dutt
• Annapurna Devi - (born Roshanara Khan) surbahar player and music teacher in the North Indian classical tradition.
• 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 Gawlik - (Born Ayesha) wife of Arundel Gawlik,  notorious gangster turned politician from Mumbai. 
• Harihara I - King of Vijayanagara Empire who converted to Islam, then reconverted.
• Aashish Khan - (born Ustad Aashish Khan Debsharma) Indian musician
• Hassan Palakkode - Malyali 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 from assumed heresy by the Mughal emperor, Aurungzebe's.  Sarmad renounced judaism, briefly converting to Islam and then Hinduism. He later denounced all religion and rejected belief in God.
• Anwar Shaikh - British Author
• Ifa Sudewi - Chief Judge for the 2002 bombing trails.
• Khusbhoo Sundar - Tamil movie actress. She converted to Hinduism upon Marriage.
• Haridas Thakura - Prominent Vaishnavite saint, instrumental in the early appearance and spread of Hare Krishana Movement.
• Zubeida - Hindi film actress, on whose life story the film Zubediaa was based. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.
• Nalini Patel - Page( 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 teh USA.
• Sonam - (Born Bakhtawar Murad) wife of Bollywood directore Rajiv Rai. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage.
• Fatima Ghadially - Wife of ajith agarkar

From Judaism

• Ram Dass - (Born Richard Alpert) syncretist, and followers of the Hindu deity Hanuman, Professor of phychology at Harvard University
• Tamal Krishna Goswami - (born Thomas G. Herzig) governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

From Buddhism

• Mihirakula - Huna ruler
• Rajasinghe II - Sri Lankan king who conquered Kandy
• Rishabhadata - Satrap viceroy
• Rudradaman I - Starap ruler and conqueror of the Satavahanas
• Vasudeva I - Kushan King and numismatist

From Jainism

• Mahendravarma I - Pallava King and patron of the arts 
• Visnuvardhana - King of Hoysala empire and prominent temple builder
• Tirunavakkarsar - Saivite saint and one of the most prominent of the sixty three Nayanars

Others 

• Charairongba - Manupuri ruler
• Heliodorus - Greek minister of King Bhagabhadra
• Pamheiba - Manipuri King
• Suhungmung - Ahom Kingdom ruler who extended Assam up to the Kamarupa Kingdom
• Annie Besent - (former atheist) Theosophist, orator and feminist
• John dobson - (former athiest who become a believer in Vedanata) astronomer and Telescope designer
• Sita Ram Goel - (former atheist) Indian Commentator, writer and Hindu activist
• Agehananda Bharti - (born Leopold Fischer) academic Sanskrit, a prolific author about religious subjects and a Hindu monk in the Dasanami Sannyasi order
• Alain Danielou - (Converted to Shaivism) French historian, intellectual, musicologist and Indologist
• Ambarish Das - Page( born Alffred Ford) American Businessman, great grandson of Henry Ford, and follower of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (the foundre of ISKON)
• Urmila Devi Dasi - (born Edith E. Best) female ISKON educator
• Geoffrey Guiliano - 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 - become a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Jazz fusion guitar player
• Lex Hixon - Suncretist and disciple of Swami Nikhilananda, poet, Philosopher, spritiual practitioner and teacher
• Mathias Rusty - German Daredevil Pilot
• J. D. Salinger - American author best known for The Batcher in the Rye
• Kelli Williams - American Actress who played Lindsay Dole Donnel 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 forward to book by Bhaktivinoda Thakur titled Sri Siksastaka.
• Jeffrey Armstrong - Canadian Author, Speaker, Poet.

Americans increasingly embracing Hinduism: Newsweek

'Lets all say Om' seems to be the new American mantra with an increasing number of people in this country subscribing to the essentially Hindu belief that there is no one way to salvation and that many religions could lead to eternal peace.

A piece in an upcoming edition of the Newsweek magazine quoting a recent poll says that Americans are slowly becoming more like Hindus "conceptually" and less like traditional Christians in the ways they think about God and eternity.

The article headlined "we are all Hindus now" cites a Newsweek poll in 2009 according to which 30 percent of Americans call themselves "spiritual, not religious," up from 24 percent in 2005.

It shows that the number of people who seek spiritual truth outside the church is growing.

"A Hindu believes there are many paths to God. Jesus is one way, the Quran is another, yoga practice is a third. None is better than any other. The most traditional, conservative Christians have not been taught to think like this," the article says. However, Americans are no longer buying it.

According to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, 65 percent of Americans believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life" including 37 percent of conservative white evangelicals, it says.

The theory of re-incarnation, which is central to Hindu belief, also seems to be finding acceptance, with 24 percent of Americans saying they believe in the concept, the article said quoting a 2008 Harris poll.

According to the Cremation Association of North America, more than a third of Americans were now choosing cremation as the ultimate fate of their bodies, up from six percent in 1975, it says.

This contradicts the traditional Christian belief that bodies and souls are sacred, that together they comprise the "self” and that at the end of time they will be reunited in the Resurrection.

Islam and Hinduism

Vikramaditya

Evidence is now available that the whole of Arabia was a part of the great Indian King Vikramaditya's vast empire. The extent of Vikramaditya's empire is one of the main reason for his world wide fame. It could be that Vikramaditya himself had this peninsula named Arvasthan if he was the first Indian to monarch to capture it and bring it under his sway. The second intriguing aspect is the existence of Shivalinga or the Mahadeva emblem in the Kaaba shrine in Mecca. 

Anthology of Ancient Arabic Poetry: Sayar-ul-Okul

In Istanbul in Turkey, there is a famous library called Makteb-e-Sultania which is reputed to have the largest collection of ancient West Asia literature. In the Arabic Section of that library is an anthology of ancient Arabic poetry. That anthology was compiled from an earlier works in A.D. 1742 under the orders of Turkish ruler Sultan Salim. 

The pages of that volume are made of HAREER - a kind of silk used for writing on. Each page had decorative gilded border. It may be recalled that gilding pages of sacred books is an ancient custom associated with old Sanskrit Scriptures found in java and other places. The anthology itself is known as SAYAR-UL-OKUL. It is divided into three parts, the first part contains biographic details and the poetic compositions of pre-islamic Arabian poets. The second part embodies accounts and verses of poets of the period beginning just after Prophet Mohammad up to the end of Banee-Immayya dynasty. The third part deals with later poets up to the end of Khalifa Huran-al-Rashid's times. Incidentally "Banee" means "Vanee" and Ummayya as as in Krishnayya are Sanskrit names.

Abu Amir Abdul Asamai, a distinguished arabian bard who was the poet laureate of Huran-al-Rashid's court has compiled and edited teh anthology.

The first modern edition of Sayar-ul-Okul anthology was printed and published in Berlin in A.D. 1864. A subsequent edition was published in Beirut in A.D. 1932. This work is regarded as the most important and authoritative anthology of ancient Arabic poetry. It throws considerable light on the social life, customs, manners and entertainment forms in ancient Arabia. The book also contains an elaborate description of the ancient Mecca shrine, the town and annual fair known as OKAJ which used to be held there every year. This should convince readers that the anual Haj of the Muslims to the Kaaba is only a continuation of the old fair and not a new practice. 

But the OKAJ fair was far from a carnival. It provided a forum for the elite and learned to discuss the social, religious, political, literary and other aspects of the Vedic Culture then pervading Arabia. Sayar-ul-Okul asserts that the conclusions reached at those discussion were widely respected throughout Arabia. Mecca, therefore, followed the Varanasi tradition of providing a sear for important discussions among the learned while the masses congregated there for spiritual bliss. The principal shrines at both Varanasi in India and at mecca in Arvasthan were Shiva Temples. Even to this day the central object of veneration at both Mecca and Varanasi continues to be the ancient Mahadeva Emblems. IT is the Shankara stone which Muslim pilgrims reverently touch and kiss in the Kaaba.

Entry of Non Muslims Forbidden

A few miles away from Mecca a big signboard which forbids entry to any non-Muslim in the area. This is a reminder of the days when the Shrine was stormed and captured solely from the new established faith of islam. The Object obviously was to prevent its recapture. 

As the pilgrim proceeds towards mecca he is asked to shave his head and beard and to don a special sacred attire. This consists of two seamless sheets of white cloth. One is to worn round the waist and the other over the shoulders. Both these rites are remnants of the old Vedic practice of entering Hindu Shrines, clean shaven and with holy seamless spotless white sheets.

The main shrine in Mecca which house the Shiva emblem is known as the Kaaba. It is clothed in black shroud. This custom could also originate from the days when it was thought necessary to discourage its recapture. According to encyclopedias Britannica and Islamia the Kaaba had 360 images. Traditional Accounts mention that one of the deities among the 360 destroyed, when the shrine was stormed, was that of Saturn, another was of Moon and yet another was called Allah. In India the practice of Navagraha puja that is worship of nine planets is still in vogue. Two of these nine are the Saturn and the moon. Besides, the moon is always associated with Lord Shiva. A Crescent is always painted across the forehead of the Shiva emblem. Since the presiding deity at the kaaba shrine was lord Shiva. It is that crescent which is now adopted as a religious symbol of Islam. Another Hindu tradition is that sacred because t was regarded as but another Ganga since pre-islamic times. Muslim pilgrims visiting the Kaaba shrine go around it seven times. In no other mosque does this perambulation prevail. Hindus invariably perambulate around their shrines. This is yet another proof that the Kaaba shrine is a pre-islamic Shiva temple where the Hindu practice of Perambulation is still meticulously observed. 

Allah is a Sanskrit word. In Sanskrit Allah, Akka and Amba are synonyms. They signify a goddess or mother. The term Allah appears in sanskrit chants while invoking goddess Durga i.e. Bhavani. The Islamic word Allah for god is therefore not an innovation but the ancient Sanskrit appellation retained and continued to be used by Islam.

The seven perambulations too are significant. At Hindu wedding ceremonies the bride and bridegroom go round the sacred fire seven times. The practice of seven perambulations around the kaaba shrine in Mecca is, therefore, a Hindu Vedic Custom. It is also a proof that Mecca that Mecca was Makha or the shrine of the sacred fire around which worshipers made seven perambulations. 

Sayar-ul-Okul tells us that a pan-Arabic poetic symposium used to be held in Mecca at the annual Okaj fair in pre-islamic times. All leading poets used to participate in it. Poems considered best were awarded prizes. The best poems engraved on gold plate were hung inside the temple. Others etched on camel or goat skin were hung outside. Thus for thousand of years the Kaaba was the treasure house of the best Arabian poetic thoughts. This tradition was of immemorial iniquity. But most of the poems got lost and destroyed during the storming of the Kaaba by prophet Muhammad's forces.

Sayar-ul-Okul is a poem by Umar-Bine-Hassnam. He was an uncle of prophet Mohammad. He refused to get converted to Islam. He died a martyr at the hands of Muslim fanatics who wanted to wipe out non-muslims. This poem was adjudged as the best in the annual fair at Kaaba. 

Qafa Vinak Ziqra min ulumin tav aseru kalabun ayattul hawa Va Tazakkaru

va tazakeroha audan elalvadae lilvara valuk yanik zatulla he yom tab aseru

va ahlolaha azahu armimah mahadev o manazel ilamuddine minjum va sayattaru

va sahabi keyam feem quamil hinde yoman va yaquloon latahazan fainnak tavajaru

mayassayare akhalaqan hasnan kullahum najumun azaat summ gabul hindu

Translattion: 

A man who has spent all his life in sin and immorality and has wasted away his life in passion and fury,

if he repents in the end and want to return to morality, is there a way for his redemption?

Even if only once he sincerely worships Mahadeva, he can attain the highest position in Path of righteousness.

Oh lord! take away all my life and in return pray grant me even a single day stay in Hind(India) as a man becomes spiritually free on reaching that Holy Land.

By dint of a pilgrimage of Hind a man attains the merit of noble deeds and gets the privilege of pious touch with ideal Hindu teacher.