He also translated some works of Swami Karpatri by whom he was initiated into Shaivism under the name Shiva Sharan (Protected by Shiva). His interest in the symbolism of Hindu architecture and sculpture, lead to long trips with Burnier to Khajuraho, Bhubaneswar and Konarak, sites in central India and Rajasthan. He also studied Hindi, Sanskrit languages as well as Indian philosophy. During these years, he studied Indian classical music in Varanasi with Shivendranath Basu and played the veena, which he started playing professionally. In Banaras (now Varanasi), he lived a mansion on the banks of the Ganga, named Rewa Kothi. he also remained the director of the College of Indian Music. In 1949, he was appointed as a research professor at the University, a post he held until 1953. Subsequently, in 1935, he joined the Banaras Hindu University, where he studied Hindu music, Sanskrit, Indian philosophy and Hindu religion for the next 15 years. His close association with Rabindranath Tagore lead to him being the director of Tagore’s school of music at Shantiniketan (Visva-Bharati University). In 1932, during his first trip to India, he met one of the great influences poet Rabindranath Tagore.
The photographs were featured in an exhibition at the New York's Metropolitan Museum. Daniélou and Burnier were among the first Westerners to visit India's famed erotic temples in the village of Khajuraho and Burnier's stunning photographs of the ancient temple complex launched the site internationally. He and his partner, Swiss photographer Raymond Burnier, first went to India as part of an adventure trip, and they were fascinated with the art and culture of the nation. He started writing poems, as acquired proficiency in English and other European languages. He studied piano and singing, learning the songs of Duparc and Chausson and the Lieder of Schumann and Schubert. Growing up he rebelled against his mother's deep devotion to her faith, but his father remained a positive influence, which helped in developing his musical talent and in coping with his homosexuality. Subsequently, he performed professionally on stage with dancers like Floria Capsali and Marjorie Daw. The young Daniélou studied singing under the famous Charles Panzéra, as well as classical dancing with Nicholas Legat (teacher of Vaslav Nijinsky), and composition with Max d'Ollone. He received his education at the Institution Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix, Neuilly-sur-Seine, and at St.
One of his brothers was Roman Catholic prelate and Académie française member, Jean Daniélou. His father, Charles Daniélou, was an anticlerical Breton politician who held numerous national ministerial posts in the Third Republic. His mother, Madeleine Clamorgan, was from an old family of the Norman nobility a fervent Catholic, she founded schools and a religious order, Order of Sainte-Marie, for women teachers in civilian costume under the patronage of St.