KATMANDU (less correctly KHATMMANDU)  , 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 .