Buchanan visited the remains at Maner and mentioned about the Badi Dargah as “merely a grave under a tree with a white sheet spread over it, but it is surrounded by a brick wall, and there is a small mosque within this and some cloisters for the reception of Fakirs. Many of the faithful are buried within the enclosure, which is as usual slovenly and ruinous. [xiii] In this simple manner was buried the first propagator of the faith in these parts.” Hafiz Shamsuddin Ahmad mentions:- “If you want to enter the Dargah from the tank side, a long flight of steps will take you to its door facing the west. It has, however, another door on the northern side, and outside the door there are some tombs and the lion statue called Singh Sadaul mentioned above. The building consists of a very extensive boundary wall with many tombs inside, and a mosque on the west, and a small varandah on the north.

This is called Bari Dargah (the great shrine) because the great saint Hazrat Makhdum Yahya of Maner, the same who, during his early career, made his kingdom over to a Muslim conqueror, and who, later on, became the father of such an illustrious son as Hazrat Makhdum Sharafuddin of Bihar, lies buried there. The visitor will observe, just east to the mosque, a small platform surrounded by a railing containing a few tombs, one of which is the tomb of the great saint mentioned above. There is no canopy or dome above his tomb, for it was his express desire that the vault of heaven only was to serve as a canopy over his grave. 

To be continued.....