Highlights
- Chhoti Dargah — The tomb pavilion and tank; look up at the calligraphic ceiling..
- Bari Dargah — Shrine of Yahya Maneri, 13th-century Sufi saint, with a mosque of 1609..
- The tank at sunset — The dome reflected in still water..
- Maner laddoo — From any shop on the Patna road..
Maner was a river port and a centre of Islamic learning long before Patna mattered; the Sufi Yahya Maneri settled here in the 13th century and his shrine, the Bari Dargah, is still a place of pilgrimage. But the building that stops you is the smaller one — the Chhoti Dargah — raised over the saint Makhdum Shah Daulat by Ibrahim Khan Kakar, Jahangir's governor of Bihar, in 1616.
It is a single square chamber of red sandstone with a dome, surrounded by a pillared verandah and corner chhatris, standing on a plinth beside a large tank with steps on all sides. The proportions are Akbari, the carving — pierced jali screens and a ceiling covered in calligraphy — is some of the best Mughal work in eastern India. Ibrahim Khan is buried in the same courtyard.
Maner's other export is sweet: laddoos made with desi ghee and sold from every shop on the main road, with a reputation across north India. Buy them fresh and warm on the way back to Patna.
Chapter 01
How it came to be
Maner was a centre of Sufi learning long before Patna mattered: the Firdausi saint Makhdum Yahya Maneri settled here in the 13th century, and his descendant Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri became the most celebrated Sufi of medieval Bihar. The Bari Dargah holds Yahya Maneri's grave in a plain, much-visited compound.
The Chhoti Dargah, the great building, is the tomb of Makhdum Shah Daulat, built in 1616 by Ibrahim Khan Kakar, governor of Bihar under Jahangir. It is the finest Mughal monument in Bihar — a square sandstone tomb with a dome, delicate jalis, and a sunken courtyard with a large tank and corner pavilions.
Chapter 02
What it's like now
Maner is a small town an hour from Patna that most Patna people have never visited. The Chhoti Dargah sits in a quiet garden by its tank; the carving on the brackets and the lattice screens is the quality of Fatehpur Sikri, and the tank with its ghats and pavilions still fills in the monsoon. A caretaker will unlock the tomb chamber. The Bari Dargah in the bazaar is busier, with qawwali on Thursday evenings.
The town's other fame is sweets — Maner ke laddu, boondi laddus from a lineage of halwais, sold at the bus stand and in Patna.
Chapter 03
What to see
- 01
Chhoti Dargah
The tomb pavilion and tank; look up at the calligraphic ceiling.
- 02
Bari Dargah
Shrine of Yahya Maneri, 13th-century Sufi saint, with a mosque of 1609.
- 03
The tank at sunset
The dome reflected in still water.
- 04
Maner laddoo
From any shop on the Patna road.
Chapter 04
A perfect day
8:00
Leave Patna; Chhoti Dargah by 9, while the garden is quiet.
10:30
Bari Dargah and the old bazaar; laddus from the original shops.
12:00
Back to Patna, or on to Buxar and the Ganga road west.
Chapter 05
Stay, eat, celebrate
Where to stay
Day trip from Patna.
Where to eat
Maner laddus; chaat and kachori at the bazaar.
Festivals & seasons
Urs of Makhdum Shah Daulat and of Yahya Maneri — qawwali nights, large crowds (dates follow the Islamic calendar).
Practical
Getting there
Fly
Patna Airport (PAT) 25 km.
Train
Danapur 20 km; Patna Junction 30 km.
Road
30 km west of Patna on NH-922 (the Buxar road), under an hour.
On the map · Maner Sharif is at 25.6468°N, 84.8676°E in Patna district, about 36 km (0½ h) by road from Patna.
Before you go · Best time to visit · Safety, dress code & money · What to eat nearby
Practical
Distances from Maner Sharif
Road distance and realistic driving time on Bihar roads — plan around these, not the straight line on a map.
From the gateway cities
| Patna → Maner Sharif | 36 km | 0½ h |
| Muzaffarpur → Maner Sharif | 94 km | 2 h |
| Gaya → Maner Sharif | 124 km | 3 h |
| Darbhanga → Maner Sharif | 152 km | 3½ h |
| Bhagalpur → Maner Sharif | 282 km | 7 h |
To nearby places
| Maner Sharif → Patna | 36 km | 0½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Sonepur Mela & Hariharnath | 42 km | 1 h |
| Maner Sharif → Vaishali | 60 km | 1½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Jagdishpur & Arrah | 64 km | 1½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Barabar Caves | 96 km | 2 h |
| Maner Sharif → Kesaria Stupa | 99 km | 2 h |
| Maner Sharif → Nalanda | 105 km | 2½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Rajgir | 115 km | 2½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Buxar | 117 km | 2½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Pawapuri | 119 km | 2½ h |
| Maner Sharif → Rajgir Nature Safari & Ghora Katora | 120 km | 3 h |
| Maner Sharif → Gaya | 124 km | 3 h |
Estimates: road ≈ 1.3 × straight-line, ~40 km/h average. All Bihar distances →
Practical
Maner Sharif tickets, entry fee & timings
What visitors have been paying recently. Fees change without notice — treat these as a planning guide and check the official page where one exists.
Maner Sharif — Bari & Chhoti Dargah
- Hours
- ~6:00 – 20:00; Friday afternoon is busiest
- Fee
- Free. Cover your head inside; chadar and flowers from stalls at the gate.
- Booking
- No ticket. 30 km west of Patna on NH-922; an hour by road.
