We do know that later in 1653 Zanabazar traveled to Erdene Zuu, founded by his great-grandfather, and appeared before a convocation of Khalkh nobility. It is not quite clear if Erdene Zuu was at that time still a Sakya stronghold-it had been consecrated by Sakya monks-or if Zanabazar actually stayed within the confines of the monastery. In any case, at this time he prevailed upon his followers to build him a new retreat in the mountains about 50 miles southwest of Erdene Zuu, at a place Shireet Ulaan Uul.

In 1648, about the time he had founded Baruun Monastery on the Shariyn Gol, between Erdene Zuu and Shireet Ulaan Uul, Zanabazar had noticed a flat-topped peak among the ridges west of the Orkhon River and apparently decided it was an auspicious spot. Upon his return from Tibet in 1561 he had a small stone-walled mediation hut built here. Then in 1653, while at Erdene Zuu, he asked that a temple and retreat be built here for his personal use. Later it also became a workshop where many of his most famous artworks were created. After his death it became known as Tövkhon Monastery, the name by which it is known today.

In 1654 we find Zanabazar in the Baga Khentii Mountains, part of the Khentii Range in what now T öv Aimag. Above the valley of a small tributary of the Tuul River known as the Khiidiyn Gol, about five miles southeast of 8717' Khiidiyn Sardag Uul, Zanabazar established yet another Gelugpa monastery. Its official name was Ribo-gejai-gandan-shadublin (The Rosary of White Lotus's Riwo-Gerjay Gandan Shendrup Ling), but like Zanabazar's residences at Shireet Tsagaan Nuur and at the monastery founded at the confluence of the Tuul and the Selbi three years earlier, it also became known as Örgöö. Thus it would seem that by this time the tradition had been established that wherever the Bogd Gegen was in residence was called Örgöö. Mongolian sources indicate that this monastery on the upper Tuul was also known as Ikh Khuree, the name by which the monastery on at the Shargiyn Gol-now known as Shankh-near Erdene Zuu was also originally called. Thus Örgöö and Ikh Khuree apparently became synonymous for the residence of the Bogd Gegen, wherever it may have been at the time. Not until much later, in 1779, was a permanent, official residence for the Bogd Gegen established near the confluence of the Tuul and the Selbi rivers, finally ending the peripatetic wanderings of Örgöö and Ikh Khuree. As noted earlier it was this Örgöö at the Tuul and the Selbi that would eventually become known by the name Urga to non-Mongolians.

Apparently Zanabazar planned to make the monastery on the upper Tuul-in what is now a very remote area sixty-three miles north of current-day Ulaan Baatar-the new center of Buddhism in Mongolia. On the lower slope of Bukh Yan Mountain, at an elevation of about 6000' a naturally occurring terrace was built up and enlarged into a flat area measuring some 650 by 575 feet. Here eventually were to be built seven large temples, three big stupas, and attendant buildings. Perhaps influenced by what he had seen in Tibet and by the Tibetan monks and artisans in his entourage, Zanabazar employed Tibetan designs in the construction of the temples. This was an extensive project and Zanabazar was only able to initiate it in 1654. An Amdo Aimag, presumably in large part made up of Tibetan lamas from Amdo who had accompanied Zanabazar back from Tibet, was eventually established, along with several other aimags and a Tantric College. The entire complex was not completed until 1680. The monastery did not survive long; as we shall see, it was completely destroyed in the internal upheavals of the late 1680s.

Having established at least three monasteries and well on his way to his goal of solidifying the position of the Gelugpa sect in Mongolia, in 1655 Zanabazar apparently decided to enlarge his sphere of influence even further by sending an embassy to the Qing emperor Shunzhi. Perhaps he had been influenced by the Dalai Lama's spectacular reception in Beijing and now thought that he himself should make the acquaintance of the Qing potentate. He therefore dispatched messengers to Beijing with gifts of various Buddhist paintings and statues. If he hoped for an invitation to Beijing he was disappointed.

"In return," Pozdneev, who was famously proficient in both Mongolian and Manchu written languages and thus presumably had access to the relevant source materials, tells us, Zanabazar "is honored with flattering eulogies; but there are absolutely no indications whatsoever to the effect that Shun Chih [Shunzhi] recognized in any way the Gegen's hegemony at the that time or had any intention of making him an instrument for influencing the Mongols."

As we shall see, a later Qing emperor would be all to ready to use Zanabazar as a means of influencing the Khalkha Mongols.