The Jedi Temple detention center, alternatively referred to as the Temple Detention Center or the Sith containment cells, comprised a network of fortified rooms situated in the southwest quarter of the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant. Constructed thousands of years before the Clone Wars, its initial purpose was to incarcerate captured Sith and their creatures. Later, it served as a holding area for disobedient members of the Jedi Order, regardless of the severity of their offenses. Although the chambers were obliterated during the Great Jedi Purge following the rise of the Galactic Empire, they were rebuilt within the New Jedi Temple around 35 ABY.
The Detention Center was established in some form shortly after the Order established a permanent presence on Coruscant, and it housed prisoners during events such as the Great Sith War and the Jedi Civil War. After the First Jedi Purge of 3954 BBY, the Detention Center was abandoned. However, the Order reclaimed the Temple soon after and maintained control for several more centuries.
The Sith once again gained control of the Detention Center when the resurgent Empire emerged from the Unknown Regions to capture the capital and expel the Jedi from the Temple. The damage was so extensive that immediate restoration was impossible, as the Galactic Senate was too financially strained to raise taxes for the Temple's repair for several years. Eventually, however, the Temple was reconstructed, and the Detention Center was rebuilt. Following the New Sith Wars and the presumed extinction of the Sith, the Detention Center began to house more non-Force-sensitive prisoners, who were typically handed over to the Coruscant Security Force after debriefing and interrogation.
During the Clone Wars, the criminal Car Affa was captured by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and taken to the detention center for questioning by the Order's interrogators. At the end of the war in 19 BBY, the last Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, using his public identity as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, commanded the Grand Army of the Republic to clear the Temple of all Jedi. Under the leadership of Darth Vader, the 501st Legion stormed the complex and executed Sidious's orders precisely.
The ancient structure remained abandoned throughout the Galactic Civil War, gradually deteriorating over the decades. After Sidious was killed at the Battle of Endor and the Imperial forces were driven off Coruscant, the New Jedi Order temporarily reclaimed the Temple, although the Detention Center remained unused. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Temple sustained irreparable damage and was left to decay.
Following the war, the Chief of State of the newly formed Galactic Alliance commissioned the Temple's reconstruction as a gift to the heroic New Jedi Order. Using blueprints recovered from the old Jedi Archives, the Reconstruction Authority erected a new Temple on the original foundations. Once restored, the Detention Center was used to house Padawans who had misbehaved in the Temple, as well as Dark Jedi. After the Dark Nest Crisis, the Order decided to confine the rogue Jedi Raynar Thul here, following the severe trauma he experienced during his time with the Killiks. While the Jedi healers worked to heal the young Knight, they confined Thul within the Center's Asylum Block, which was designed to house individuals with severe neurological damage.
During the Second Galactic Civil War in 41 ABY, Ben Skywalker infiltrated the laundry chute in the fourth-level training center's changing room, acting on instructions from Apprentice Seha Dorvald. Dorvald claimed that she was relaying these instructions from Skywalker's Master, Jacen Solo. Skywalker hesitated to enter the shaft, as rumors suggested that it was designed to deposit any living beings within it directly into the Detention Center.
Two years later, the Asylum Block became the residence of Knights afflicted with an enigmatic madness. As more Knights were placed in the chambers, Raynar Thul was eventually able to reintegrate into the Temple community. After his capture by members of Darkmeld, Knight Seff Hellin was confined here for closer study by Chief Healer Cilghal. Shortly after Hellin's confinement, fellow Knights Natua Wan, Yaqeel Saav'etu, and Bazel Warv were also forced into the Block after succumbing to insanity. However, their stay was brief, as increasing pressure on the Order to hand them over to Chief Natasi Daala forced the Jedi to take action. Knight Leia Organa Solo kidnapped the insane Jedi without the knowledge of the Jedi High Council and transported them to the Jedi academy in the Transitory Mists.
The Detention Center, situated in the southwest quarter of the Temple, was a large complex located on the level above the Room of a Thousand Fountains and below the Halls of Healing. It comprised several specialized facilities and blocks. The exterior chambers were illuminated by harsh orange light and were used to house Sith, Dark Jedi, and their Sithspawn. Designed to withstand the powers of the dark side of the Force, most of the chambers were reinforced with metals resistant to the Force and lightsabers, and were encased in ray shield protection.
Less secure rooms, simple holding chambers were constructed to house non-Force-sensitives, as well as Jedi apprentices who had violated Temple rules and needed to be detained until a ranking Jedi could administer appropriate punishment. The laundry shafts in the Temple were engineered to capture any living beings that entered them and deposit them into a holding room within the Center.
The Asylum Block of the Temple Detention Center was a comfortable, two-story transparisteel cube situated in its own blue-lit atrium, completely enclosed by a barrier field. The entire structure was surrounded by olbio trees, which were home to Force-negating ysalamiri, a feature that cost the Order a significant sum of credits. Upon approach, a small golden access point would form in the barrier field, allowing Jedi to enter the facility after a retinal scan. A path between two rows of olbio trees led to a control room containing equipment and security controls used to maintain the entire facility. A commissary was located within the block, accessible only if a patient was escorted by a healer. A turbolift ran the height of the Block, providing access to the second-story catwalk. Each of the cells was designed with comfort in mind, except for the lack of privacy due to the transparisteel walls; however, the room's refreshers were located behind a privacy curtain. Equipped with bolted-down flowform seating, holographic entertainment centers in the main living area, and a small bed in each resting chamber, the cells were essentially apartments from which the occupants could not leave. Each room's door was magnetically sealed, rendering it impervious to any tricks a Force-impaired captive might attempt. Electronic speakers were installed on the catwalk-side of the cells, allowing anything the patients said to be broadcast to the healer on watch.