India has always been blessed with sages, gurus, and scholars,
A land of multiple kings and rulers.
One of them was 'Shakraditya' of the Gupta dynasty,
And he thought of building a 'Sangharama' (monastery) in the 5th century, for a better society.
The land he chose was 'Nalanda', capital of the Magadha region,
Which earlier was a preaching place for Jain Tirthankara, Mahavira, who spent there 14 seasons.
Ancient Magadha worked as an intellectual ferment,
With a knowledge having a character of dissent.
It was the first university of its time that invited foreign students,
Imparting knowledge to everyone with the intentions that are prudent.
The curricular included every sort of learning,
Starting from the Vedas, rivalry, astrology, astronomy, and every other experience earning.
A library, DharmaKunj, with lakhs of handwritten books,
Even before the printing press, from the learning and experiences of sages and monks.
After serving for about 1200 years,
This university got shaken in fear.
Nalanda was destroyed thrice,
But was only rebuilt twice.
In the 12th century, Bakhtiyar Khalji started the riot,
Placed Nalanda on fire, burning monks alive, making everything sarcastically quiet.
Alone the library burnt for more than 3 months,
Smashing every piece of knowledge, filling ears with scrunch.
All of this was done to impose one ideology that of Khalji,
No proof or knowledge was left of the original thee.
Thanks to the Chinese monks who once got educated here,
And kept records and proofs till the time, serving us fair.
A place whose name itself meant, 'No stopping the gift of knowledge',
Deriving from the Sanskrit dialect 'NA-ALAM-DA', after the name breakage.
Such a holy place, which gave education the higher benchmark,
Destroyed, even if not in seconds, but took us to ages back, leaving a hollow mark.