Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/41

 and thus place oneself in a position to see the valley spread out below like a map. Towards the centre of this oval a tall pillar-like erection may be observed from most situations, forming a useful landmark or fixed point by which the principal objects in view may be located. This is the tower of Bhim Sen, known as Bhim Sen's folly, and arises from out of the brown roofs of Katmandu, the modern capital. A number of large white buildings are to be seen intermingled with the more neutral coloured pagodas, and these mark the new palaces and residences of the royalty and aristocracy of the State. The general shape of Katmandu can be defined, which tradition has likened unto a sword, indicating that it is a long narrow city in the rough proportions of a weapon of that nature. Eight miles east of this is Bhatgaon, one of the old seats of the kings, and its round compact shape is not dissimilar to the chakra or “quoit” of Vishnu, the mythical form after which this city is supposed to have been built. A ruddy conglomeration of buildings among the green cultivation about two miles south of Katmandu