History

The tomb is said to be that of a Sufi saint, Hazrath Saidani Bibi, who was a family member of a fouji (soldier) belonging to Tipu Sultan’s army. She was a non-combatant and highly revered by people. She blessed those who came to her.

The present location used to function as a stable for the horses in Tipu’s army. When the British took over later, they continued to use the area for the same facility. While there is no recorded history of how the dargah was originally set up, prior to 1981 a makeshift shanty shaded the tomb. People used to visit the tomb for prayers and their offerings were scattered at the place.She died around 1912 and was buried here.

People say that she was buried in the military area due to high respect and regard the local people of Mangalore particularly the warrior class had for her. Later, her close relatives were buried beside her. Now are seen three other tombs apart from that of Sayyadani Bibi in the dargah.The dargah was built on land belonging to the Police department, and the property was later handed over to the Wakf Board.


Saidan Bibi was a strong woman and she left her husband after a quarrel.She is said to have come to the spot where the dargah is, with her young son and rested under the shade of the mango tree. She is said to have stayed there for a long time and died there.

Earlier, the tomb of the saint was under a huge mango tree. It is said that when the cops tried to trim the tree to construct a parking lot, it started emitting a red pigment.Hence, the tree was not cut down. Around 30 years ago, the tree fell down in a weird style. The tree made a lot of noise and slowly leaned to the ground as if it was sleeping. It seems that there were many children playing in the area. However, no one was hurt and people said that it was a miracle. In place of the old tree, a small mango sapling came up. Today this sapling has grown to become a huge tree. It is said that people cannot eat mangoes stolen from the tree.

The dargah is frequently visited by women, who wish to have children and unmarried women who want to find a good life partner. Many people get their ill children here. It is said that if one makes a vow at the dargah it comes true. It is said that people who had problems, used to sleep outside the dargah. They received peace of mind and got solutions of their problems through dreams.

This dargah (memorial tomb shrine) is visited by people of all faiths. Most of the people come here with a ’harake’ (vow) as there is a strong belief that prayers are answered here.Many offer flowers, chadar, incense and silver items here after their vows are fulfilled.

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