Great Temple ( Korriban ) The Great Temple was a mausoleum as well as a place of reverence located in Korriban ' s Valley of the Dark Lords , where the remains of many of the most honored Dark Lords of the Sith were interred . History . A massive structure built of stone by the Sith , the Great Temple was one of the most prominent structures within the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban , and situated at the very rear of the valley itself . Towering over other structures , the mausoleum held the bodies of many deceased Sith Lords , all of which remained untouched by time , preserved by their own power in the dark side of the Force . Tuk ' ata hounds prowled the interior of the temple , and served as guardians against tomb - raiders and grave - robbers . In 3996 BBY , Jedi Knight Exar Kun was guided to Korriban and into the Great Temple by the spirit of Freedon Nadd . After several tests , Nadd tricked Kun into finally embracing the Force ' s dark side after the destruction of the Great crystal brought a deadly avalanche of stone down on Kun ' s head . The Temple would be forgotten for millennia after Kun ' s visit and , while the Sith Empire would occasionally hold the planet , its Sith Academy was erected in front of the Temple complex as the above - ground portions of the Great Temple became largely uninhabitable and continued to collapse . In 23 BBY , a team of Jedi Knights and their Padawans , headed by Obi - Wan Kenobi , entered the Great Temple while on a mission to track down the galactic criminals Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor . Upon entering the ancient ruins , Kenobi felt a distinct Sith presence — the dark shape of a Sith Lord . Though he did not realize it at the time , this later proved to have been Darth Tyranus , the Sith alter - ego of former Jedi Master Dooku , who was there on Korriban to rendezvous with Omega and Zan Arbor . The two criminals were seeking to strike an alliance of power with the galaxy ' s re - emergent Sith . Anakin Skywalker had fleetingly glimpsed the tall , black - hooded figure of the Sith Lord from behind . Kenobi shuddered at the thought of the thousands , who had come for knowledge and training , who had been trapped within the Sith Temple by their own desires : he seemed to feel each wasted life , each terrible death . So thick and foreboding was the dark side of the Force within the Temple , that it seemed to invade Kenobi ' s lungs , and he found it difficult to breathe . For 18 - year - old Anakin , the surging feeling of the dark side seemed to rise up from the soles of his feet and blast through the crown of his head : its undeniable power was stomach - turning , nerve - splitting — nauseating . The Temple would once more be explored by Darth Sidious , a member of the Order of the Sith Lords during the final decades of the Galactic Republic and well into the reign of the Galactic Empire . Sidious saw to the preparation of a tomb for his apprentice Darth Vader within the Temple ; Vader would never occupy it as he died embracing his Jedi heritage on the forest moon of Endor . In 11 ABY , the resurrected Darth Sidious visited the Great Temple seeking counsel from the spirits of his Sith predecessors . While some doubted his success and offered him Vader ' s tomb , other spirits gave Sidious counsel and bid him farewell a final time . Behind the scenes . The Great Temple with its Sith Academy on Korriban is referenced in the of Jude Watson ' s " Jedi Quest " series simply as the " ancient Sith monastery " — thousands of years old , deserted for hundreds of years , but still a presence of evil . Once a bastion of Sith lore and learning where thousands had once trained " and thousands of hopefuls had once disappeared forever , " the Temple was , at once , repulsive " and " alluring to the Jedi . The original inhabitants of Korriban who had built ( and , in later years , " re - built " ) the Sith complex had , of course , long since vanished and nothing thrived there : but if the ancient stones could speak , " they would talk of blood and terror . " For though the Temple had had the same goals as did the Jedi Temple — " study " and " learning " — this place had been ruled by " fear " . The high walls that narrowed in harsh lines and pyramidal angles near the top were designed to create a feeling of entrapment ; slightly askew , they were meant to intimidate and keep beings off - balance . With no openings to light or air , there were only the massive columns , bleak towering walls , and hard floors of cold gray stone . Watson describes the massive Temple structures as having giant exterior walls comprised of great stones that , by 23 BBY , had " shifted " over the years , with sundry large slabs propped up against one another , and others that had toppled and crumbled into boulders ; within , vast echoing chambers that rivaled the Jedi Temple ' s Great Hall were shrouded in darkness . An oppressive dread emanated from the ancient cracks and hollows ; the walls wept with moisture . Ancient voices could be heard , and spectral images of torture and pain passed , then vanished , like phantoms in the night . In Watson ' s description , huge statues of terrifying beasts from many worlds marched on either sides of its great corridors . Vestiges of the Sith ' s greed - torn Order were strewn across a vast , ancient hangar where aggression and technology met — remains of huge hulking ships were witnesses to the Order ' s own perceived invincibility that , ultimately , was brought down in disaster by vengeance , lust and pride .