patan or yala or lalitpur, the city of beauty, is situated on the southern banks of the river baghmati (a tributary of the ganges) some 5 kms and 15 minutes’ drive southeast of kathmandu. it is one of three cities that originally were part of kathmandu valley. it is believed that city was the first settlement in the valley and was established by the kirat dynasty who ruled for more than 1200 years from the 3rd century bc. when it comes to arts and architecture, patan is the richest among the three districts of kathmandu valley. the town is filled with artistic temples, monasteries, stupas, pagodas and other religious sites with bronze gateways, guardian deities and wonderful metal and woodcarvings and has become an important destination for the tourists. patan produces much of nepal’s fine metalwork and its craftspeople have created some of the most extraordinarily lavish temples, hiti and bahal in the country. it has a long relationship with buddhism. the four corners of the city are marked by stupas that are believed to have been built by the great indian emperor ashoka around 250 bc.