Across much of the Himalaya, rocks in the Lesser Himalayan duplex are covered by roof thrusts of other Paleoproterozoic Lesser Himalayan rocks or Greater Himalayan rocks. However, in central Nepal, between the Main Central thrust and the Main Boundary thrust, Lesser Himalayan rocks are exposed in structurally complex relationships within the Lesser Himalayan duplex. We present two balanced cross sections with different stratigraphy involved in the duplex, one with the basal Kuncha Formation and one without this unit, to test stratigraphic assumptions. Both cross sections have roof thrust sheets consisting of the Main Central thrust, Ramgarh‐Munsiari thrust, and Trishuli thrust folded over the hinterland dipping Lesser Himalayan duplex dissected by late faults. Cross section 1 has a shortening estimate from the Main Central thrust to the Main Boundary thrust, including motion on the Main Central thrust, of 359 km or 78%. Cross section 2 has a shortening estimate of 349 km or 76% over the same region. Because the amount and percentage of shortening are not significantly different between the two cross sections, the different stratigraphic assumptions did not change the shortening results. This similarity suggests that many of the choices made when constructing a cross section may be less important than researchers previously thought. Key Points Two cross sections of the same surface data have 2% difference in shorteningTotal shortening in the Himalayan thrust belt yields an estimate of 700–1000 kmShortening is 350–1350 km less than predicted for shortening of Greater India