Rahul Sri Bhadra, the principle of Nalanda university was taking a nap when the door slammed open and Pema and Siddharth woke him.
“Sir!! You have to get out of the room quickly, the library is on fire! There has been another attack!” shouted Pema.
They ran out of the room into the garden. This was the third and the most destructive attack on the Nalanda University, amongst the other two. Bhaktiyar Khilji was on the rampage again. There was a roaring, raging fire in the library which was spreading faster than a cheetah. There was blood everywhere. Many monks were lying on the ground, few were running with bags and scripts in hand. They were trying to salvage whatever manuscripts they could get hold of.

Guru Rahul led the monks and others to a secret tunnel while Pema and Siddharth tried to stop the soldiers from coming by distracting them and leading them in another direction.

There was pin - drop silence in the tunnel. After hours of crawling, they emerged into daylight. They gathered around Guru Rahul who addressed them, “What has been destroyed and lost cannot be undone. It is now our sacred duty to spread Buddhism in all directions.” Few monks went north towards Bhutan, China and Nepal. Few went west.

Pema, Siddharth and Guru Rahul started their journey westwards. They went from village to village, through dark dangerous forests and past vast lakes. The arduous journey effected Guru Rahul’s health which started to decline, so they had to halt at Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb, the city we now call as Aurangabad, consisted of clusters of huts and sheds at the edge of a mountain range known locally as Sahyadri hills, a part of Western Ghats. They reached a spot where the river flowed in a curve and the hill was U- shaped. They decided to make caves at this site and dwell there till guru Rahul’s health improved. They borrowed tools from the villagers and with their help, carved out a few caves.

The rest of the caves were made during the Vakataka period. They consisted of stupas, long halls, resting chambers and meditation chambers. Cave No. 19 and 26 – the meditation halls, had huge stupas. Many caves had exquisite paintings depicting the life of Buddha, on the walls and roofs as also many huge magnificent Buddha sculptures. Some were double-storeyed.

In the great prayer hall, Pema, Siddharth and the other monks gathered before the Great Stupa, before the grand feast. Guru Rahul stood before the stupa. “Despite the great devastation of our beloved Nalanda University, we could still save and spread the tenets of Buddhism. Now my soul can rest in peace.” So saying, Guru Rahul chanted mantras and the congregation repeated after him.

The Ajanta caves were totally covered in greenery and hidden from human sight for man many years until they were discovered by John Smith who came to the valley for hunting. These caves are now preserved as a UNESCO world heritage site.