Jedi Temple

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Coruscant

• Affiliation:
  Jedi Order

• 

From the Movies

Removed from the surrounding bustle and urban sprawl by benefit of its colossal height, the Jedi Temple was the home of the Jedi order on Coruscant. It stood alone in its section of the planet-wide city, a towering edifice capped by a crown of five spires that housed the most important temple chambers.

Within one of the outer spires convened the Jedi High Council, the governing body of the order. From its circular Council chamber, a ring of 12 Jedi Masters held court, monitoring galactic events and contemplating the nature of the Force. It was the Council that held final authority on Jedi missions on behalf of the Republic, and on whether prospective candidates were worthy of training.

Elsewhere in the temple, training facilities were staffed by revered Jedi Masters, who guided young Padawans in their first steps toward Jedi Knighthood. The most influential of Masters had private offices to plan and meditate. A well-stocked library contained knowledge from across the galaxy. Advanced communications networks kept the Jedi in touch with galactic events, and landing pads allowed Jedi transports and vessels to launch and land.

In its final years, the Council was led by senior Jedi Mace Windu and Yoda, two very powerful Jedi Masters. At the time of Palpatine's ascendancy to Supreme Chancellor, the Council contained such Jedi luminaries as Ki-Adi-Mundi, Depa Billaba, Eeth Koth, Even Piell, Saesee Tiin, Yarael Poof, Oppo Rancisis, Plo Koon, Yaddle, and Adi Gallia.

When the galaxy was pushed beyond the brink of conflict and into full scale civil war, the Jedi became the reluctant leaders of the Republic military. During the Clone Wars, the Jedi Temple came to house military-style briefing chambers and war rooms -- spaces unneeded in the preceding millennia of relative peace. It was a time of tumultuous change, and not even the gleaming corridors of the Jedi Temple were spared.

With the rise of Emperor Palpatine, in truth a secret Sith Lord scheming to overtake the galaxy, the Jedi were branded enemies of the state. Palpatine's new apprentice, Darth Vader, stormed the Jedi Temple with his elite clone trooper special forces in tow. They cut down the Jedi ranks within the temple, not even sparing the younglings who cowered in the empty Jedi Council chamber during the onslaught.

Smoke billowed from the burning Jedi Temple. Palpatine arranged for an emergency transmission to emit from the temple's powerful beacon -- it announced that the war was over, and that all Jedi return to Coruscant. Seeing through this trap, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda infiltrated the temple and modified the transmission, warning the Jedi to stay away.

From the Expanded Universe

The Jedi Temple stood for over 4,000 years, first erected as the Jedi transferred their headquarters from Ossus to Coruscant. A long, broad promenade led the way from the crowded surroundings to the Jedi Temple, to a ceremonial staircase crowned with the statues of two Warrior Masters and two Sage Masters. This in turn led to the more formal entrance, where massive block-like pylons stood adorned with sculptures of the Four Masters that founded the temple.

The ziggurat base and its crowning spires were an ancient design, constructed to symbolize a Padawan's ascent to enlightenment. The kilometer-high structure was an anachronistic sight to behold compared to the modern skyscrapers of the megalopolitan planet. At the heart of the temple sits the peak of the original sacred spire where the first Jedi Temple was constructed.

The center-most of the five spires was the most sacred section of the building. Inside were housed the original manuscripts of the founding Jedi. The other four spires contained important council chambers dedicated to governing the order. Aside from the Jedi High Council, there was the Council of First Knowledge, the Council of Reconciliation, and the Reassignment Council.

Other chambers within the Jedi Temple included the Room of a Thousand Fountains, which featured a huge greenhouse, flowing waters and cascades. The temple also included lightsaber training areas and an area that provided views of giant holographic star maps.

When the Empire came to power, the Jedi Temple was scoured of its inhabitants; the Jedi were routed and exterminated by Darth Vader and his ruthless 501st legion of clone troopers. Once the Temple was pacified, Palpatine raided its vast archives, stealing away with a horde of precious Jedi lore which he stored in secret repositories on such worlds as Wayland and Byss. The Jedi Temple still stood during his regime, but it was an empty husk of its former glory and a stark reminder of the consequences of rebellion against the Empire.

With the great upheavals that would strike Coruscant throughout the Galactic Civil War, the Jedi Temple eventually crumbled, but with the New Republic as stewards of the Galactic capital, Luke Skywalker eventually came to erect a Jedi headquarters on the old site of the Temple. The Yuuzhan Vong invasion that radically altered Coruscant's cityscape would reveal the ancient foundations of the Temple to sunlight for the first time in years. With the defeat and expulsion of the Yuuzhan Vong, Luke Skywalker's Jedi order would construct a new Jedi Temple on Coruscant, using the old temple as a template. During the time of Darth Krayt's reign, decades later, this structure would become the Temple of the Sith.

Behind the Scenes

George Lucas wanted the Jedi Temple to stand out in the metropolis of the galactic capital world. He asked the Art Department to produce sketches of a distinctive and unique building that would suggest the special religious nature of the great structure.