“Why do the Jedi have such a huge temple on Courascant? Isn’t that decadent? Wouldn’t it be better to have smaller temples on more remote worlds?”
For the purposes of the Jedi at the end of the republic, not really. They’re 10,000 strong (+ several thousand more prob for padawans, younglings, acolytes and agriculture corp) and serve as the main peacekeeping and diplomatic force of the republic, so it makes sense to live on Courascant to know the goings on.
And tbh, since the Jedi have been around for thousands and thousands of years the temple was probably there before a lot of the high life stuff there.
As for the optics, sure it’s big, but it’s not like they lounge around treating themselves to pleasures in there - everything’s pretty bare save some statues, and they actually use the space. Meeting halls, classrooms, meditation chambers, etc and living quarters for all of the 10k members - not soemthing you could have with a tiny temple.
Plus it’s not like they’re just chilling there, it’s their base to train, commune with eachother and rest, a safe place of serenity - but they’re constantly leaving on missions throughout the Galaxy, so practically it also works as using Courascant as a crossroads to send the Jedi throughout the gaalxy constantly to put out fires instead of trying to do so from a remote outer rim world.
And linking it to Courascant, indeed, it’s one of the few places that ISNT decadent and filthy on Courascant. It’s even got gardens with trees! Not only was it probably there before a lot of the stuff surrounding it, it acts as An ark on a world that’s just drowning itself.
Tbh the Jedi prob set up shop there very early on alongside the republic, putting their temple there to be able to directly defend a budding republic and allow it to grow into what it became because they believed in the value of galactic democracy. Also, something regarding building the temple there to cleanse a dark side temple the Sith had set up on their golden age.
It makes sense why future or past iterations of the jedi wouldn't be on courascant - before the republic, the jedi wanted to be closest to the force as they could and set apart to achieve enlightenment but with the republic they decided they had something to protect and a responsibility to the galaxy. After the republic, when there's many galactic powers of varying merit + they're so small, they want to reoritent on a smaller world neutral and serve everyone. But the jedi of the republic makes perfect sense to be where they are.
But to redirect to the primary critiques of the Jedi temple, which as far as critiques on the Jedi I feel are pretty shallow :
It’s decadent / it’s too big: Nah it’s big, but they use the space and need the space - they’re 10k strong and have been around for just as many years, and despite that other than a few statues or ceremonial rooms is very very bare in decor
It makes them out of touch / above everyone else: They keep pretty informed , and it’s more of an ark on Courascant than some prestige symbol. If it wasn’t there, there’s prob be overlapping 50 space McDonald’s and some smoking pipes. If worse came to worse, the Jedi temple is there and they’d let have a space for people to take refuge in divorced from all the corrupt infouence of Courascant
It should be somewhere else : Nah, they’re the main peacekeeping force of the republic so makes sense they’d be close to the admin to coordinate, plus they were prob there in the earliest days alongside the republic, and also works just as a crossroads to send the Jedi out across the Galaxy. The Jedi prob set up there alongside republic not only to solidify their alliance, but to protect the budding republic from those who’d want it destoryed - because the Jedi valued the ideals of a galactic democracy.
In short, they have a huge temple because they need it, it’s on Courascant because they protect the republic and need to be in the middle of the Galaxy to send Jedi out to respond to any problem, and it’s big but not lavish.
