Avatar Temple



Avatar Temples are shrines built in honor of the Avatar. These temples seemingly bear a spiritual connection with the Avatar Spirit and all of its past incarnations, and as such are regarded as sacrosanct dwellings.

As the temples are briefly shown, information regarding their purpose and function remains relatively unknown. However, they seem to be frequented by visitors, mostly by those who wish to use the shrines for meditation and concentration.

It has been determined thus far that every nation has at least one Avatar Temple, though Avatar Roku destroyed the Fire Temple while manifesting in the body of Aang.

Avatar Roku's Recession
Around the winter of 58 BSC, Roku spent five months on Crescent Island's Fire Temple, where he was attempting to master the Avatar State with the help of the Fire Sages. Under the guidance of Fire Sage Kaja, Roku tried a variety of meditation exercises in an attempt to develop control over the state. Avatar Roku had trouble concentrating despite his efforts, and exclaimed that mastery over the state through meditation would be impossible.

In hopes of speeding the process, Roku decided to use the sun of the winter solstice to push himself into entering the state. Avatar Roku triggered the state immediately, though he found himself unable to control his abilities, much to Fire Sage Kaja's displeasure. Without control over the state, Roku ended up destroying the upper portions of the temple and accidentally triggered the eruption of a small volcano before Kaja managed to free him from the Avatar State.

Roku eventually mastered the state and rebuilt the temple pagodas, carving underground passages out of the island's magma underneath the structure.

The Return of Avatar Aang
In the winter of 100 ASC, the newly rediscovered Avatar Aang decided to return to the Southern Air Temple to reunite with the Air Nomads. Upon arriving with Katara and Sokka, Aang was slightly surprised to find the temple desolate, stating to Katara that it was once a lively place bustling with activity.

He dismissed these feelings and eventually arrived at the Air temple sanctuary, where he was immediately drawn to the statue of Avatar Roku, who, unbeknownst to him at the time, was his immediate predecessor. While examining the statues of the previous Avatars, Aang and Sokka spotted a Winged-Lemur.

Aang, enthralled at the sight of a creature from his culture, ran off to chase the lemur, who led him to a part of the temple largely affected by the Fire Nation attacks nearly a century ago. Here, he saw the corpse of Monk Gyatso, his nomadic mentor. The sight of his master's remains caused Aang to trigger the Avatar State, and this in turn was instantaneously recognized by the Avatar Temples. Four temples from each elemental faction glowed, signaling the return of the Avatar.

The winter solstice
Aang, unaware of the true nature of his mission, realized that he needed to seek the guidance of Avatar Roku. Unsure of how to go about this, he was assisted by Fang, Roku's companion, who led him in a spirit journey to Crescent Island where he must go, prior to the winter solstice's arrival.

Aang arrived at the temple successfully, but was surprised to find that the Fire Sages were attempting to apprehend him. Fire Sage Shyu, the only loyal Fire Sage left, explained that Aang's apparent disappearance prompted the sages to pledge allegiance only to the Fire Lord. The sages did their best to stop Aang from meeting with Roku, though their efforts ultimately fail as Aang was able to enter the sanctuary before the doors permanently closed.

Roku explained to Aang that he must stop the War prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet, by mastering all four bending arts before the summer's end. Aang realized what he must do, but expressed concern of escaping the temple safely.

Meanwhile, outside, Zhao arrived and readied himself to apprehend the young Avatar with the help of his soldiers and the Fire Sages. The doors of the sanctuary open to reveal Avatar Roku, who manifested himself in Aang's body, much to the Admiral's surprise. Roku exhibited his Firebending prowess, defeating the opposing forces and freeing Zuko and Team Avatar from the chains that immobilized them. He then destroyed the temple permanently through the use of Firebending.

Trivia

 * It is unknown why the temples failed to glow when Aang first enters the Avatar State when he fights Zuko on the latter's ship directly after the Avatar was freed from the iceberg. It may be due to the fact that Aang entered the state by physical trauma and not by meditation, concentration, or other emotional or non-physical triggers.
 * In the canonical online game Escape from the Spirit World, the choices for the question "Where did Aang, along with his friends Katara and Sokka, first learn about the past Avatars?" included the Western Water Fortress and the Northeastern Earth Mound. It is confirmed that the aforementioned names are the titles of the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom Avatar Temples, respectively.