Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/118

 Narayan, Patan being a round compact city is likened to the wheel or chakra of Buddha, while Katmandu is recorded to have been built in the shape of the sword of its great founder, Manjusri. There is also a Hindu legend that this was the scimitar which Devi carried in one of her many hands. The handle or blunt extremity of this traditionary weapon lies to the south, towards the confluence of the Baghmatti and Vishnumatti Rivers, while its apex points to the north, and terminates in the suburb of Timmale, which stretches round or rests upon it, according to the Buddhists, as the chhattra of cloth does upon the point of Manjusri's sword. The greatest length of the city of Katmandu from north to south is about a mile, and its breadth varies from one-fourth to one-third of a mile. The present population is 40,000 souls. Originally each city was surrounded by a wall, but these defences, being allowed to fall into decay, have almost entirely disappeared, together with many of the large gateways. The general plan of a Nepalese city consists of a number of features which custom has made common to