Etymon: paTTaN, pattan, patan

[S Krishna]

S.Kalyanaraman writes:
>Patan is the name of a town (3 km. from Kathmandu) on the southern bank
ofBagmati river in Nepal. The etymon may relate to a ferry point on a
riveror a port?
>

 In Maharashtra, there is a town called pAtaN(To the best of my
knowledge, the natives of this place traditionally took on the surname
pAtaNkar)....does anybody know if this stands on a river?
Or for that matter, whether the origins of the name have anything to do
with a port?

 In the same way, the town of ZrirangapaTna(karnATaka) stands on the
kAvErI; but was it ever a port of any kind( even a river port?). At the
same time, I also remember reading about a town called Bhawanipatna in
Orrissa whose name is traced back to a woman called Bhawani who
performed some kind of a meritorious deed which led to the town being
called Bhawanipatna( pointing to an origin other than that of a riverine
port). Now, does the name of paTnA ( in bihAr) also derive it's name
from the same source? I realise that this is possible since it stands on
the gangA, but the way the etymology of this place was explained to me
had to do with the fact that this is some kind of a corruption of
'pAtaliputra". Can anybody please shed light on these issues...

Regards,
Krishna

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