Patan (पाटन), Nepal

Patan Durbar Square, Nepal
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katmandou_durbar_square.jpg
Author: ConyJaro
photo licensing

Patan (पाटन) is the second biggest city in the Kathmandu Valley after Kathmandu itself. It is also known as Lalitpur. Both the names Patan and Lalitpur actually came from the same source: the name Lalitapattan, in Sanskrit. Patan is said to be the oldest of the cities in the Kathmandu Valley having been founded as early as the third century BC during the Kirat dynasty.

Being once the capital of ancient kingdoms, Patan also have its own Durbar Square, just like Kathmandu, and it is today the center of attraction for visitors, since this is where all the elaborately ornate temples and palaces are concentrated.

World Heritage Site Inscription Details

The heritage sites in Patan was inscribed, along with those in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, as World Heritage Sites in 1979. Details below:

Location: N 27 42 14.22 E 85 18 30.888 covering a core zone of 188.95 hectares and a buffer zone of 239.34 hectares of the Kathmandu Valley
Inscription Year: 1979
Type of Site: Cultural
Inscription Criteria: III, IV, VI

Travel to Patan

You can get to Patan by taking the micro bus from the Ratnapark bus stop in Kathmandu. Alternatively take a taxi. If you can walk, it's a journey of 90 to 120 minutes from Kathmandu.

Travel within Patan

The Durbar Square of Patan is where you want to be. Within the Durbar Square, the palace buildings are to the east while the temples are to the west, separated by a main road. They can all be explored on foot.

Shikhara in Patan's Durbar Square
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-03_Kathmandu_11.jpg
Author: Ralf Lotys
photo licensing

Places of Interest in Patan

Durbar Square
Medieval palace square where the palace and the major temples are located.
Royal Palace of Patan
A spectacular example of Newar architecture.
Taleju Bhawani Temple
A triple-roofed octagonal temple built in 1666.
Patan Museum
Museum housed in the northern palace courtyard known as Mani Keshab Narayan Chowk.
Chyasin Deval
Octagonal shikhara at the southern end of the Durbar Square.
Hari Shankar Temple
17th century temple with three-tier roof.
Krishna Temple
One of the most exquisite buildings in the Kathmandu Valley.
Bishwanath Temple
A profusely carved temple with a two-tier roof, diagonally from the Krishna Temple.
Bhimsen Temple
Temple dedicated to the patron god of traders, and is usually decorated with silver and gold.
Manga Hiti
Rectangular recessed pool with three carved water spouts.
Kwa Bahal (Golden Temple)
A famous Newar Buddhist monastery to the north of the Durbar Square.
Kumbeshwar Temple
A towering temple with a five-tier roof which is the oldest existing temple in Patan.
Mahabuddha
Temple of the Thousand Buddhas, located at the end of a lane lined with curio shops.
Rato Machhendranath
Famous temple to the Nepali version of the Buddhist Avalokiteshvara, worshipped as the guardian of the Kathmandu Valley.
Jawalakhel
Southern neighborhood of Patan where Nepal's only zoo is located.
Tibetan Refugee Camp
Camp established in the 1960's now promoting Tibetan handicrafts.

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