LALITPUR

town, southwestern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, situated 56 miles (90 km) south of Jhansi town. According to legend it was founded by a southern Indian king who named it after his wife, Lalita. It is built on raised river frontage along the Shahjad River on the east and Biana stream on the north. Its cottage industries include tanning, sawmilling, shoemaking, ironsmithing, and soapmaking. Nehru College, affiliated with Bundelkhand University at Jhansi, is in the town. About 0.5 mile (0.8 km) south is the Govind Sagar Dam; nearby is a Muslim tax-collecting post, called bansa, dating from about 1360. An airfield for civil and military aircraft is 5 miles (8 km) outside the town. Lalitpur has major road and railway connections. Pop. (1981) 55,756. also called Patan town, central Nepal, in the Kathmandu Valley near the Baghmati River, about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Kathmandu. According to Nepalese chronicles, Lalitpur was founded by King Varadeva in AD 299. Some scholars believe that it was the capital of the Licchavi, Thakuri, and Malla dynasties; this theory, however, is now disputed. When Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley in 1769, Lalitpur was plundered and the people treated with great brutality. The town, which is the headquarters for the Banra sect of the Newar people, has an agricultural economy (barley, rice, wheat, millet, vegetables, and fruit). Lalitpur is known for its craftsmen, particularly metalworkers and wood-carvers. There are a number of fine Buddhist temples, including the Temple of Machendranath in Durbar Square. A feature of the town is the number of viharas, originally Buddhist monasteries but now inhabited by descendants of the priests who once occupied them. According to legend, the Indian emperor Asoka visited the town about 250 BC and built the four large stupas (Buddhist temples and burial mounds) that still exist on the four sides of the town. Pop. (1981) 79,875.