Jedi Temple meditation gardens

History

These gardens, which were numerous within the Temple, were completed by 1000 BBY at the latest. Throughout the Order's existence, they were meticulously cared for as places to relax and reflect.

Around 31 BBY, Xiaan Amersu, a young Twi'lek Padawan whose Master was killed by bounty hunter Aurra Sing, discovered the amnesiac Jedi Quinlan Vos meditating on a bench under a large tree. She gave the Kiffar Jedi her Heart of Fire gemstone, explaining that Aayla Secura, his Padawan, had given it to her, and Secura had received it from Vos. Amersu hoped that Vos could use his psychometric abilities to read the stone and recover his memories of Secura, so she returned it to him. Vos felt he regained a piece of his past and thanked Amersu, vowing to find Secura.

Years later, during the Clone Wars, Master T'ra Saa brought Depa Billaba, a former High Council member in a comatose state, to a garden for healing. Mace Windu, Billaba's former master, visited them by a pond filled with fish. He questioned Saa's efforts, believing Billaba would never awaken. Saa replied that she wouldn't give up, and her healing attempts would also heal her own wounds. Additionally, Anakin Skywalker waited in a grotto within one of the gardens for Master Nejaa Halcyon, who had news from a High Council meeting. Halcyon soon arrived to inform Skywalker that they were being sent to Praesitlyn to oversee the defense of the Intergalactic Communications Center and capture Captain Zozridor Slayke.

As the Clone Wars concluded, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, commanded the Grand Army of the Republic to besiege the Temple and massacre everyone inside. The 501st Legion, led by Darth Vader, attacked the Temple, destroying much of its ancient architecture. The meditation gardens were either burned or left to decay as the structure was ruined and its inhabitants were hunted and killed.

Following the deaths of Sidious and Vader, the Empire's power waned, and it was eventually driven from Coruscant by the New Republic. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Coruscant was devastated by terraforming, leading to the Temple's complete collapse and the final destruction of the meditation gardens. After the world was reclaimed, Cal Omas, the Galactic Alliance Chief of State, instructed the Reconstruction Authority to rebuild the ancient structure as a tribute to the Order's sacrifices against the Yuuzhan Vong.

The meditation gardens in the reconstructed New Temple served the same purpose as they had decades prior. In 43 ABY, Interim Grand Master Kenth Hamner invited Jedi Leia Organa Solo, Jaina Solo, and non-Jedi Han Solo to the garden in the Tower of Reconciliation to meet with Chief of State Natasi Daala and her assistant Wynn Dorvan. Daala argued for acquiring the maddened Jedi Seff Hellin and Natua Wan, while Hamner believed the Order was better suited to treat them. They compromised: the Jedi would publicly apologize regarding the clandestine group Darkmeld, and Daala reluctantly agreed to let the Jedi house the two infected Jedi.

Layout

Located on different levels of the Temple Ziggurat and within the four Council Spires, the meditation gardens were generally cool and sunlit areas where Jedi could meditate among plants and flowing streams. Dense foliage and damp grottoes filled the space, with benches lining dirt and stone paths through the jungle-like areas. One garden featured a fish pond connected to a sandy beach, where butterflies fluttered over the gently moving water.

At least eight large gardens were situated on the Ziggurat's rooftop, built into the architecture that protruded from the Temple's pyramid shape. Clerestories formed the ceilings of these gardens, and access to the Ziggurat's wide rooftop plaza was available through three large doorways. One garden had a sandpit near a tall tree, filled with pink stones balanced on each other to create a calming atmosphere.