List of converts to Hinduism from Christianity

This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This is a list of converts to Hinduism from Christianity.

George Harrison
Claudia Ciesla
Bhakti Tirtha Swami
Tom Alter
Name Nationality Notes Refs
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami american thinker and indologist. Tamil culture. Hinduism_Today
Chantal Boulanger French anthropologist who wrote widely on Tamil culture. [1]
Claudia Ciesla German model, actress and singer [2][3]
Job Charnock British trade agent who has been controversially described as the founder of Calcutta [4]
Ilan Chester Venezuelan singer, keyboardist, arranger and composer[5]
Alice Coltrane American raised Baptist but became a follower of Satya Sai Baba jazz pianist, organist, harpist and composer[6][7] [8]
George Sudarshan Indian physicist, professor and winner of Dirac Prize and Padma Bhusan [9]
Michael Cremo American author, editor and creationist [10]
Bhagavan Das American yogi and former born again Christian [11]
Roy Eugene Davis American Kriya Yoga teacher [12]
Krishna Dharma British author and ISKCON convert to Gaudiya Vaishnavism [13]
Richard L. Thompson American mathematician, author and historian, later known as Sadaputa Dasa
David Frawley[14] American acharya and author on Hinduism, yoga, and Ayurveda [15]
Elizabeth Gilbert American author of Eat, Pray, Love [16]
George Harrison British musician, member of The Beatles famously associated with A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and ISKCON
Lawrence Raghavendra Indian choreographer, film actor, director, composer and philanthropist [17]
Kirtanananda Swami American son of a Baptist minister, Hare Krishna guru and co-founder of the New Vrindaban Hare Krishna Community
Christopher Isherwood British novelist [18]
Jomol Indian actress [19]
Lizy Indian actress [20]
Swami Kriyananda American direct disciple of the yogi Paramahansa Yogananda [21]
Timothy Leary American Harvard professor, writer and psychologist [22]
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami American senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada [23][24][25][26][27][28]
Savitri Devi Mukherji French writer, animal rights, deep ecology and Nazism activist and syncretist of Hinduism and Nazism
Sister Nivedita Irish social worker, author, and teacher [29]
Leelawathy Ramanathan Australian writer and Hindu activist who converted upon marrying Ponnambalam Ramanathan [30]
John Levy British philosopher and translator of books on Advaita Vedanta [31]
Annie Indian actress [32]
Joseph Ritson British antiquarian and traveller [33]
Julia Roberts American actress [34]
Han Snel Dutch painter [35]
Satyananda Stokes British farmer [36]
Bhakti Tirtha Swami American guru and disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada[37] [37]
Romapada Swami American Vaishnavia sannyasi and initiating guru [38]
Kenneth R. Valpey American Gaudiya Vaishnava Theologian [39]
Shaunaka Rishi Das Irish Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
Iswar Sharan Canadian author and Smarta Dashanami sannyasi who is born as a Protestant Christian [40]
Nayantara Indian actress and model [41]
Alfred Ford American heir to the Ford family fortune [42]

References

  1. ↑ Obituary: Chantal Boulanger-Maloney; Cultural anthropologist who documented 100 styles of sari draping.(Obituaries) The Independent – April 8, 2005
  2. ↑ Claudia Ciesla wants to become a Hindu
  3. ↑ Claudia Ciesla converted to Hinduism
  4. ↑ Indian Renaissance: British Romantic Art And the Prospect of India – Hermione De Almeida
  5. ↑ Havi Das Wins Latin Grammy Award ISKCON News – December 10, 2008
  6. ↑ Jazz Musician Alice Coltrane dead at 69 News Australia – January 15, 2007
  7. ↑ Alice Coltrane; Musician, Spiritual Guru Washington Post – January 15, 2007
  8. ↑ "Da Capo companion to twentieth-century popular music", by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, p. 195, publisher = Da Capo Press
  9. ↑ Reflections on Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan 2009
  10. ↑ Review: Forbidden Archaeology's Impact National Center for Science Education – May 1999
  11. ↑ The Hippie And The Beastie – Bhagavan Das – Brief Article Bnet Research – July 2001
  12. ↑ Meditate for a healthy living Times of India – October 13, 2002
  13. ↑ Krishna Dharma Dasa ISKCON UK
  14. ↑ "Padma Awards 2015". Press Information Bureau. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Religion and ethnicity The Hindu – May 27, 2003
  16. ↑ mumbaiboss.com
  17. ↑ moviegalleri moviegalleri – January 1, 2010
  18. ↑ Acclaimed American Author Christopher Isherwood Adherents
  19. ↑ Actress accuses her father Times of India – April 25, 2005
  20. ↑ Lissy Priyadarshan-ON Record,, Kannadi, Asianet News. Lissy talks about her faith and religion,Conversion to Hinduism her current life etc.
  21. ↑ "About Swami Kriyananda". Swami Kriyananda. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Time to Mutate TIME – April 29, 1966
  23. ↑ Smith, Huston; Harry Oldmeadow (2004). Journeys East: 20th century Western encounters with Eastern religious traditions. Bloomington, Ind: World Wisdom. p. 272. ISBN 0-941532-57-7. Before his death Prabhupada appointed eleven American devotees as gurus.
  24. ↑ Rochford, E. Burke (1985). Hare Krishna in America. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. p. 222. ISBN 0-8135-1114-3. In the months preceding his death Srila Prabhupada appointed eleven of his closest disciples to act as initiating gurus for ISKCON
  25. ↑ Ron Rhodes (2001). Challenge of the Cults and New Religions. Zondervan. p. 179. ISBN 0-310-23217-1. Before Prabhupada died in 1977, he selected senior devotees who would continue to direct the organization.
  26. ↑ Rodney Stark (1985). Religious movements. Paragon House Publishers. p. 100. ISBN 0-913757-43-8. Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, one of the eleven initiating gurus Bhaktivedanta appointed to succeed him ...
  27. ↑ Shinn ISKCON Communications Journal-1994, 2.1
  28. ↑ Hare Krishna leader visits local followers Daily Collegian, Penn State University, August 5, 1981
  29. ↑ Defying the Hindutva canon The Hindu – January 30, 2004
  30. ↑ Lady Ramanathan Passes away The Hindu – January 31, 1953
  31. ↑ Sedgwick, Mark. Against The Modern World: Traditionalism And The Secret Intellectual History Of The Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2004. 93. Print.
  32. ↑ Chithra & Shajikailas Interview-ON Asianet News,
  33. ↑ Morton, Timothy, Marilyn Butler, and James Chandler. Shelley and the Revolution in Taste : The Body and the Natural World. New York: Cambridge UP, 1995.
  34. ↑ Blake, Heidi (August 5, 2010). "Julia Roberts: I'm a Hindu". Daily Telegraph (London).
  35. ↑ "Exhibit reveals Han Snel's undying love for Bali", Jakarta Post, May 29, 2008
  36. ↑ The Pacific Historical review http://www.jstor.org/stable/3640095?seq=20
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Official Site – Bhakti Tirtha Swami
  38. ↑ Biography on Romapada's website
  39. ↑ Kenneth Valpey  – ISKCON News
  40. ↑ http://ishwarsharan.wordpress.com/about-us/
  41. ↑ sify.com
  42. ↑ Video on YouTube