About Patan Durbar Square

Patan durbar square is situated at the heart of Lalitpur district preserving a huge collection of fine art and architecture carved and inscribed on woods and metals by our ancestors. This city is very famous for temples, shrines, statues, monuments, festivals, culture, etc. that reflects our ancestor’s crafting skills. Even now, if we walk the small alleys of Patan we can hear the tapping of tiny hammers as craftsmen work on various ornaments and idols. Lalitpur is the second largest town of Kathmandu valley and is separated by the Bagmati River from Kathmandu. It is around 5 km away from Kathmandu. One can reach Patan in around 30 mins from Thamel depending on the traffic.

The boundary of Patan is marked by the ancient Buddhist stupas that were built in 250 BC by King Asoka during his visit to the valley. There are four small ancient stupas resembling four corners of Patan. It is believed that after King Asoka built these stupas, Buddhism flourished in the valley. The stupas stand firmly at Gwarko (East), Pulchowk (West), Kumbeshwor (North) and Lagankhel (South) till now. Three of the stupas are just mounds of earth with prayer wheel and the northern one is a beautiful concrete stupa.

Patan is considered as the oldest among the three cities of Kathmandu valley. Just like Kathmandu Durbar Square and Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square is also one of them. It is believed that Lalitpur was founded in 299 AD by King Veer Deva. Lalitpur is a Sanskrit word which means “City of Beauty”. There are many ancient names for this city like Yala, Manigal and various stories behind the given names. There are various stories behind the names of Patan.

One of them is the Red Machhindranath. It is believed that once the valley suffered the worst drought. So, three representatives (including Lalit; a farmer from Patan) from three kingdoms of the valley went Assam, India to bring the God Red Machhindranath. There was a strong belief that the god will provide rain and the drought will be overcome. Lalit carried the god all the way to the valley from India and settled it in Patan. The belief came true and the valley overcame the drought that is why it is named after Lalit; Lalit, the farmer and ‘pur’ means ‘township’.