Four Ashoka Stupas are the most remarkable feature of the town of Patan that are testimony to an ancient architectural tradition. Marking the four corners of Patan, three of these stupas are merely mounds of earth with prayer wheels around them while the fourth near Shankamul is a beautiful concrete stupa. At the time they were built, Buddhism flourished in the Kathmandu Valley.
The historians have agreed that these Stupas might have been erected in connection with the foundation of Patan towards the end of the 4th century AD. Because of its circular base and hemispherical dome it can be safely said that these Stupas have not been constructed in accordance with the Buddhist architecture. It is said that Emperor Ashoka ever visited Kathmandu valley, there are four stupas supposedly built by him.
