Situated to the south of Bagmati, Patan has officially been named Lalitpur. After Bhaktapur and Khatmandu, Patan, steeped in history, is the third of the three royal cities. A row of monuments bear testimony to the religious significance of the city of Patan for Buddhists. The roads from the palace precinct to the four Ashoka stupas were evidently designed to form a cross that is still clearly perciptible. Interestingly, it is said that the stupas are arranged in a mandala, the mystic Buddhist diagram symbolizing the order of the cosmos and the place of gods and men. Some historians suggest that a fifth stupa once stood at the center though not available now. They liken this to the theory of the doctrine of the five Jinabuddhas, or Pancabuddhas as they are known in Nepal. Patan's strict adherence to a grid pattern of streets is indeed a wonder. There are the three focal points of the city's religious life, the Kumbeshvara Mandir (north), the Degutale Pagoda (center) and the Matsyendranath Mandir (south). Intriguingly these three temples illustrate the mystic reconciliation of opposites symbolized in the mandala.

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