We describe the eastern and western Himalayan syntaxes, which are
large-scale antiforms situated at geodynamically similar locations and
the metamorphic evolution of which is coeval in the India-Asia
collisional history. To understand the mechanical plausibility of the
structural interpretation, we present two-dimensional finite-element
modelling of lithospheric folding. The models reveal the coeval
development of adjacent synformal basins, analogous to the Peshawar and
Kashmir basins on both sides of the western syntaxis. Similarities
between geological data and calculated models indicate that lithospheric
buckling is a basic response to large-scale continental shortening and
an efficient mountain building process.