Patan Durbar Square and the palace museum

We meet at 8 am beside Manga Hiti, where neighbours are filling water pots at a spout carved in the 6th century. From there we walk the length of the square: the stone Krishna Mandir of 1637, its upper friezes telling the Mahabharata in small carved panels; the Bhimsen temple of the merchants; the Vishwanath temple with its stone elephants; and the column of King Yoganarendra Malla, kneeling under a cobra with a bird on its head.

Inside the palace, Mul Chowk is the oldest courtyard, guarded by bronze river goddesses at the door of the Taleju shrine. Sundari Chowk holds the Tusha Hiti, a sunken royal bath lined with carved stone deities. Access to some courtyards varies with ongoing conservation, and we choose what is open on the day.

We then spend two hours in the Patan Museum, set in Keshav Narayan Chowk. Its galleries explain how a bronze is cast, what each hand gesture of a Buddha means and how a Newar temple is put together. It turns what you have just seen outside into something you can read. We finish with tea or lunch in the museum garden cafe.