Air temple sanctuaries

The air temple sanctuaries are large, ancient chambers located in the Southern and Northern Air Temples, that could only be opened with airbending. They were considered important to the Air Nomads as a place where knowledge of the Avatar and the Avatar's previous incarnations were kept.

History


A century before the start of the series, Monk Gyatso, Aang's mentor, informed Aang that when he was ready, he would meet someone very special inside the air temple sanctuary that would guide him on his Avatar journey. However, Aang fled the Southern Air Temple before this could occur.

A century later, when the Avatar awoke from the iceberg he was trapped in, he traveled with his friends to the Southern Air Temple. Remembering what Gyatso told him, Aang opened the sanctuary doors with airbending. Instead of finding a master to teach him, he came across a long line with statues of previous Avatars. He then saw his future pet lemur, Momo, in the doorway behind them. Aang and Sokka raced to catch Momo, with Aang wanting to befriend him and Sokka wanting to eat him. Aang then accidentally stumbled upon Gyatso's corpse. His rage and grief caused him to enter the Avatar State. While in the Avatar State, the eyes on the statues of the previous Avatars all around the world began to glow, including those in the sanctuary. When Aang calmed down, he and his friends returned to the sanctuary. Momo brought Sokka food as a gesture of friendship, and officially joined Team Avatar later.

Aang and his friends came across another one of these sanctuaries when they traveled to the Northern Air Temple. At first, Aang was unhappy with the changes the mechanist made to the temple, but after he saw how spirited the people who live there are, he decided to open the sanctuary doors for Teo. When he opened them, however, he found nothing but Fire Nation weaponry.

After Team Avatar and their allies had launched an unsuccessful attack on the Fire Nation, the youngsters of the group were forced to flee, and took refuge in the Western Air Temple. While there, The Duke, Haru, and Teo set out exploring, the latter remarking that he wondered if the temple had a sanctuary as well.

Southern Sanctuary


The sanctuary in the Southern Air Temple consists of a very tall, circular room. A statue of every single Avatar that came before Aang circles the room in a large swirl, in the fashion of the Air Nomad insignia. The sanctuary door is large and made of thick wood, and can only be opened with airbending. The statues of all the Avatars are lined up according to the Avatar Cycle.

Though Aang, Sokka, Katara and Momo are the only known visitors, it is almost certain many other people have entered this room, considering that a statue is built after every Avatar dies.

Northern Sanctuary


Located inside the air temple, this great hall was originally built as a spiritual place where only the elder monks and the Avatar were allowed. Only a master airbender can open the door to the sanctum. Because of this, Aang thought it was the only part of the temple that was untouched. However, as it turns out, the mechanist ingeniously used physics and clever mechanics to open it. Since then, the mechanist has been using the sanctuary as his secret weapons laboratory.

Trivia

 * The Fire Temple on the Crescent Island also had a sanctuary door, and it could only be opened with firebending, just as the air sanctuary doors could only be opened using airbending.