Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c40.3

c40.3

Although the country of Nepal extends in the shape of an irregular parallelogram along the ranges of the Himalayas, occupying a region some 450 miles in length and averaging 150 miles in breadth, the main tenor of its life is almost entirely concentrated within a relatively localised area towards the centre, spoken of as the "Valley of Nepal" The remainder of the State is composed of a rugged mountainous terrain, sparsely inhabited, and containing few features of note Within the valley, however, prehistorically a shallow lake but anciently drained so that it now presents an undulating landscape of considerable beauty, the vital pulse of the country beats Here in this depression measuring twenty miles long by fifteen miles wide are distributed towns and villages, but more important still, in a middle position, are closely grouped the three capitals of the kingdom, Katmandu, Patan, and Bhatgaon, the remarkable architectural character of each representing the building art of the country in all its aspects.