Tuvkhun Monastery Ruins - Steppe by Steppe - Interactive Map (sitios de interés)

The excellent location of Tovkhon Khiid was selected by Ondor Gegeen Zanabazar on his 19th birthday. It was built in 1653 and he named it 'Land of happy Solitude'.
The hermitage of Tovkhon is 68 kilometres from Erdene Zuu, in the wooded Shiveet ¬Ulaan Mountains of Bat-Olzii sum.
Not far from the summit of the mountain, on a first platform, are several temple halls, one of which is made from wood. To the west of these, having passed some large rocks, one can see a footprint attributed to the first Bogd Gegeen, and a small cave (uran darkhnii agui) where Zanabazar meditated. Climbing further up, one ar¬rives at a second platform from which a spring runs out. Another cave is located here-the Ehhiin Khevlii (Mother's belly), which is just big enough to stand in, although you have to crawl to enter it. This is a veritable regresses ad uterum to which the pilgrims appeal in the hope of having their faults washed away in the next rebirth. From there one can climb higher and reach the summit of the moun¬tain where there is an ovoo and rock called the 'place of naadam'. .
Ondor Gegeen Zanabazar was the first leader of the Mongol Lamaist church and led an intense intellectual, religious, and artistic life. His biography includes work as a bronze caster, goldsmith, translator, compiler, founder of monasteries, and creator of a new alphabet for the phonetic transcription of Mongolian, Tibetan and Sanskrit. Much of this work was done at Tovkhon Khiid
Travellers should note that women are not allowed to climb to the summit of the mountain and the monks make sure that this rule is followed. In 2001, a Tg68.5 million restoration project on the monastery was completed, bringing the temples back to their original glory.