Greetings, Padawan

What is a Jedi Temple?

  Jedi Temples, of which there have been and still are many, are places of worship, often built on Force-vergences (also known as Force-nexus' or Force-locus'), which are rare, naturally occuring concentrations of the Force centered around a location or object. Force-vergences have many effects, and can be Light or Dark.

  A Jedi Temple that is constructed around a Force-vergence is often utilized for teaching purposes. The Jedi Temples of Ilum, Jedah and Lothal were such Temples. Any Jedi Temple, from the humble halls of the smallest temple, to the grand library of the Grand Temple, had restrictions placed on who could enter, and what they could access. Any non-Jedi personnel had to “check-in” before entering the Temples, and “check-out” upon leaving. This was for security purposes as well as spiritual ones, as Jedi Temples are places of faith and worship, as well as being homes and training centres. At times throughout history, non-Jedi were expressly forbidden from entering their halls.

  While the Grand Temple was the centre of the Jedi Order, the Order maintained dozens of Temples of various sizes throughout the galaxy, as the Order recognized the galaxy itself as their home.

The Grand Temple of Coruscant

  The Grand Temple of Coruscant served as the centre of the Jedi Order for millennia, being the largest active Jedi training and living space in recorded history. The Grand Temple was founded prior to the development of Coruscant into an ecumenopolis. Although it has stood abandoned or dormant at times, the Grand Temple is always returned to in due time. During its peak, the Grand Temple housed nearly fifty thousand Jedi Masters, Knights, Padawans, Initiates and Younglings. The Grand Temple was outfitted with a vast library, where the Jedi Archives resided, as the cummulation of knowledge throughout the history of the Jedi Order.

  The Grand Temple is unique in that it was not originally constructed upon a Force-vergence, but that it has had one develop at it's location nevertheless. Over the millenia of the gathering of the Light side of the Force, of meditation and lives lived, the Grand Temple has become a nexus for the Light side of the Force.

The Temple of Ilum

  The most sacred of places to the Jedi Order, the ice planet's location was kept a secret, for it was not only uninhabitable, but rich in kyber crystals. The Temple of Ilum was never inhabited for long, usually a few days at a time, during a ceremony called the Gathering took place.

  A Senior Padawan would begin the Gathering at an inhabited Temple (usually the Grand Temple, wherever it was located at the time), gathering a group of Senior Initiates who had been reccomended by their teachers and caretakers for the ceremony. The group would take on the journey to Ilum, engaging in group meditations and storytelling along the way, and would land on a pre-determinded date (this was specific due to enviromental concerns such as weather).

  The group would face a reminder of the challenges ahead before the Gathering could start, and would have to coax a door open before entering the Temple. Lead by the Padawan escorting them, the Initiates would reach out through the Force as a collective, and open the door to the Temple. Inside, they would be greeted by a High Master, such as the Grand Master of the Order, although any High Master could take upon the task. The High Master would welcome the group, and use the Force to operate the lenses and crystals high up in the atrium, using the magnified sunlight to cause a wall of ice to melt, revealing the way into the caverns. A warning would be given, and a reminder that there was a time limit, and the exit would freeze over.

  Upon entering, the caverns would test each Initiate in a unique way, with the goal of teaching a lesson, be the lesson patience, bravery, independence or any number of other skills. With the challenge overcome, a kyber crystal would be revealed, allowing the Initiate in question to return to the central atrium. While the ice wall could seem to be a barrier to exit, it could be overcome through the Force.

  It was rare to only journey once to to Ilum. Returning to the planet to find a new kyber crystal, an additional kyber crystal, or to serve a different role in the Gathering was incredibly frequent, although Ilum was not the only source of kyber crystals in the known galaxy, nor the only planet used for such a purpose by the Jedi.

The Temple of Lothal

  The Temple on Lothal was built on a Force-vergence, and constructed to test a Master-Padawan pair. The Temple was built into a stone spire, which was hollowed out with the help of the Force, and was sunk into the ground when not in use, rendering it inaccessible and nigh-undetectable through any other means than the Force. The only way for the Temple to be raised was by a Master-Padawan pair working in tandem, although their ranks were insignificant (so long as they held the roles of Master and Padawan in respect to each other, any pair could raise the Temple at any time).

  Master’s would bring their Padawan’s to Lothal to see if they were ready to become Knights. The Temple would test both Master and Padawan through the Force, granting visions of the past, present and future, and asking difficult questions with the goal of the Master and Padawan discovering their own answers.

  The Force-vergence that the Temple was built upon had a secondary effect beyond the main use of the Temple. The paintings in the Temple's lower levels of the Mortis gods (the Son, the Father, and the Daughter), acted as a portal to the World Between Worlds, a rarely used and poorly understood realm between time and space. Very few Jedi ever knew of the existence of the World Between Worlds beyond ancient records and legends.

The Temple of Jedha

  Cared for by an ancient branch of the Jedi, the Guardians of the Whillis, the Temple of Jedha was a holy site and possibly even the birthplace of the Jedi Order, as the planetary records note a very early religion and understanding of the Force practiced on the desert moon. Additionally, the caverns below the surface of the desert contained kyber crystals, similar to Ilum. Oftentimes, Jedi would be lead to the Temple of Jedha by the Force, to fulfill what was lacking.

  While rich in kyber crystals, Jedha was rarely used for the Gathering, but lightsabre crystals were still found. Usually, those who visited to search for a kyber crystal were older, Knights and Masters who had lost their way (or lost their lightsabre). The caverns caused illusions and hallucinations that asked hard to answer questions, questions that the crystal seeker might not want to face.