Eastern Air Temple

The Eastern Air Temple is one of the four temples of the Air Nomads, and one of the two, the other being the Western Air Temple, which exclusively housed female airbenders. However, its population was wiped out at the beginning of the Hundred Year War during the Air Nomad Genocide. Guru Pathik lived here for an extended period of time, where he eventually taught Avatar Aang how to use the Avatar State.

History


Along with the Western Air Temple, the Eastern exclusively housed female airbenders. Avatar Kuruk learned airbending in this temple hundreds of years prior to Aang's time. During Aang's childhood, a group of female nomads including Sister Iio were present at the temple, caring for a herd of sky bison. Among an adult bison's litter was a newborn Appa, who soon became Aang's animal guide. Six years afterward, Avatar Aang was to be separated from his mentor, Monk Gyatso by the elders of the Southern Air Temple, who decided to send Aang to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his airbending training, away from Gyatso's fatherly influence. However, before they could do this, Aang overheard their plans and ran away.

This temple suffered a great amount of damage at the hands of the Fire Nation after Fire Lord Sozin declared war on the other three nations. He used the powers of Sozin's Comet to kill the Air Nomads residing in the temple. Out of all of the existing air temples, the Eastern Air Temple suffered the worst damage.

A hundred years following the genocide, Aang traveled to the Eastern Air Temple to meet Guru Pathik, who had been waiting for him after a vision. The guru recently had a run-in with Appa, who fled to the temple following his capture. The guru cared for Appa and sent him off with a letter to Aang, which stated that he could teach him how to control the Avatar State. Guru Pathik and Aang went through a series of meditations designed to unblock the seven chakras. However, Aang left the temple during the process of unlocking his seventh chakra, rendering him unable to enter the avatar state at all.

Description


Unlike the Northern and Southern Air Temple, the Eastern Air Temple is housed on three separate mountains, connected by bridges. Not much is known about its physical appearance, except that it was once a great temple, left desolate after the Fire Nation's attacks. It has three pagodas, one on each mountain, with green tiled roofs. The center mountain pagoda has a couple smaller buildings next to it.

Bison stables
The Eastern Air Temple was the former home to many flying bison; and since the slaying of the Air Nomads, the stables are home to many spider bats. Appa was born and raised here, and had left his mark in his stall by biting the metal ring around the manger. When Appa visited the stables a century later, he had a flashback of his youth here, and reminiscing, he bit the ring as he used to, but wound up coughing heavily.

Customs
While other nations possess royalty and are run by monarchies, the Air Nomads are led by the monks/nuns of the air temples, i.e. by a theocracy.



The Air Nomads are the only nation composed entirely of benders, due to the highly spiritual nature of their lives. It is said that meditation was an important part of the airbenders' daily routines, as it helped them to focus their energies and understand the potency of their element.

It has been mentioned that they have a good sense of humor, a fact shown when Monk Gyatso employed a unique teaching method when tutoring Aang with his airbending skills — accurately blowing fruit pies onto other monks' heads.

The arrow on an airbender's head signifies that he or she has mastered airbending. This is an emulation of the natural arrows on the heads of flying bison, animals revered by the Air Nomads who can naturally airbend and are believed to be the inspiration for the first airbenders. Apprentice airbenders have no tattoos. In order to receive the tattoos as well as the title of a master, an airbender must pass the thirty-six levels of airbending along with engendering a new technique.

Natural resources and foods
As could be determined, air is the main and most significant power source and natural resource of the nomads, as without it they would be rendered powerless. With the power of air channeled under their control, the airbenders were able to defend and protect their homes and way of life and travel across the globe.

The Air Nomads were a tranquil and environmentally friendly race of people and did their best not to leave a mark on the land. Any industry that they engendered, such as farming and gardening, were powered naturally. They also produced their own food.

Air Nomads were also vegetarians, similar to their real world counterparts, Tibetan Monks. This is suggested by Aang's words when he first said he did not eat meat during their first visit to Omashu and on other occasions.

Notable figures

 * Sister Iio
 * Appa
 * Mother sky bison
 * Guru Pathik

Trivia

 * This is the only air temple that is not the title of an episode, and the only one visited solely by Aang throughout Team Avatar's journey.
 * Though the most damaged, none among the air temples resemble any damage from severe igneous attacks as shown in the flashback episode, "The Avatar and the Fire Lord", where the temples burn immensely.