Nanda Parbat

Nanda Parbat is a fictional city in the DC Comics universe. Nanda Parbat first appeared in Strange Adventures #205 (October 1967), and was created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino, the creators of Deadman.

History

Patterned after the fictional Shangri-La and the real Nanga Parbat in Pakistan, Nanda Parbat is a hidden city nestled high in the mountains of Tibet; it is said to be a place of healing and enlightenment watched over by the goddess-like figure Rama Kushna and her monks. As in Shangri-La, time moves differently in Nanda Parbat. Its visitors are often able to retain their youth many decades after their arrival, and yet they can leave Nanda Parbat to find that less time has passed in the outside world.

Rama Kushna is most famous as the entity responsible for turning aerialist Boston Brand into the ghostly Deadman. As her spiritual agent, Brand wanders the Earth possessing the bodies of the living and doing good works, in the hopes of finding eventual access to paradise. Deadman has returned to Nanda Parbat on occasion to defend it against attackers such as The Sensei of the League of Assassins, an aged warrior at one time possessed by Jonah, another of Rama's former agents.

Invisible Map

A map had been used to reach this place in the story arc "The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" written by Grant Morrison and Paul Dini. The so-called "invisible map" is supposedly composed of 7 pieces, some of which are: a tattoo, a scrap of parchment, a poem and a birthmark.

Notable appearances

Rama Kushna and Nanda Parbat have also played a role in the lives of other DC Comics characters:

• Nanda Parbat was home to Judomaster prior to his joining the team known as the L.A.W. It is responsible for him remaining as youthful as he was in the 1940s.
• The Crimson Avenger spent time in Nanda Parbat, seeking meaning in the senseless acts of violence he witnessed in World War I. During his convalescence, he received a vision of the future and witnessed the death of Superman (as depicted in Golden Age Secret Files #1).
• In 52, Nanda Parbat is where The Question takes Renee Montoya to be trained by martial arts master Richard Dragon. It is just outside of Nanda Parbat that the Question dies due to complications from lung cancer.^[1]
• Later in 52, Ralph Dibny journeys to Nanda Parbat, seeking an audience with Rama Kushna and a way to resurrect his late wife, Sue. A member of the Great Ten, the Accomplished Perfect Physician, is also shown seeking inner peace in the hidden city.
• In Batman #663, Batman uses a mantra or prayer over a dead man he learned in Nanda Parbat. Also in the same issue he enters the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi using a technique learned in Nanda Parbat to find the hidden or occult pattern to the Joker's recent murders.

Other media

• In the episode "Dead Reckoning" of the Justice League Unlimited television show, Batman reveals that he studied with a martial arts master in a monastery in Nanda Parbat, and enlists the help of Deadman, who lives in said city, to avenge the martial arts master's murder. It is seen that all the monks died due to the Secret Society of Supervillains, but they are revived since they stopped their plans.

References

1. ^ "52" Week Thirty-Eight (2006)

External links

• DCU Guide: Rama Kushna
• DCU Guide: Taj Ze