Skip to main content
KathmanduCity Tour

Patan Durbar Square: A Visitor's Guide

Lalitpur's royal palace square: the stone Krishna Mandir, the Patan Museum, the Golden Temple and the city's bronze workshops.

Patan, also called Lalitpur, is the city just across the Bagmati river from Kathmandu. It's been a city of artisans for centuries, and its Durbar Square has more temples packed into it than any other square in the valley.

What to see

  • The Krishna Mandir, a stone temple in the shikhara style, built in 1637, with scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana carved along its friezes.
  • The royal palace and its three courtyards, including Sundari Chowk with its beautifully carved royal bath.
  • The Patan Museum, one of the best museums in Asia for Hindu and Buddhist bronze and wood sculpture. Don't skip it!
  • Hiranya Varna Mahavihar, the Golden Temple, a Buddhist monastery just a few minutes' walk north of the square.

Patan's craftspeople

Many of the bronze statues sold in Kathmandu are made in Patan's workshops, using the centuries-old lost-wax method. You can meet the people who make them on our handicraft workshops tour.

Entrance fee

NPR 1,000 for foreign visitors (checked October 2026). Patan is part of our Kathmandu Valley day tour.

Tours that go here