Katmandu

Katmandu (less correctly Khatmandu), the capital of the state of Nepal, India, situated on the bank of the Vishnumati river at its confluence with the Baghmati, in 27° 36′ N., 85° 24′ E. The town, which is said to have been founded about 723, contains a population estimated at 70,000, occupying 5000 houses made of brick, and usually from two to four storeys high. Many of the houses have large projecting wooden windows or balconies, richly carved. The maharaja’s palace, a huge, rambling, ungainly building, stands in the centre of the town, which also contains numerous temples. One of these, a wooden building in the centre of the town, gives it its name (kat = wood). The streets are extremely narrow, and the whole town very dirty. A British resident is stationed about a mile north of the town.