Tövkhön Monastery, one of Mongolia’s oldest Buddhist monasteries, is located on the border of Övörkhangai Province and Arkhangai Province in central Mongolia, about 47 km (29 mi) southwest of Kharkhorin. Tövkhön Monastery was first established in 1648, by the 14-year-old Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu and spiritual head of Mongolian Tibetan Buddhism. He determined that the location on the Shireet Ulaan Uul mountain, overlooking a hill at 2,600 meters above sea-level, was an auspicious location. The first physical structures were built upon his return from studying in Tibet in 1653. While there he created many of his most famous works. It was also where he developed the soyombo script.