From the biography of the Fifth Dalai Lama:
On that same fourth day of the third Tibetan month of 1655, the Dalai Lama met with the Khoshut ruler Ablai-taiji (d. 1674), who was planning to build a new monastery:
‘At the request of Ablai, who was planning to build a new monastery in a place with five mountains, five glaciers, and five lakes, to perform a divination to dispel some doubts, [I] (i.e., the Dalai Lama – B. M.) gave an encouraging answer, saying that [the construction of the monastery] would go well. However, although at that time [people] uttered pleasant words explaining the symbolic meaning of [the elements of the locality] corresponding to the Buddhas of the five families, the dakinis of the five classes, and the five Sisters of Long Life, [I] (i.e., the Dalai Lama – B. M.) did not hear them. When he was asked about [the construction], [I] (i.e., the Dalai Lama – B. M.) presented arguments indicating very bad omens, [a report] of which the lord [Ablai] immediately sent a person to deliver. Since everyone, high-ranking and commoners alike, were pleased with the flattering and pleasant words, it seems that they did not like [my] arguments [about the bad omens]’ [blo bzang rgya mtsho 2018a: 387].
Mitruev B. L. Information on Kalmyk embassies to Tibet from Tibetan sources. Monograph. 2024.
Historical background:
Ablaikit/Ablainkit is a 17th-century Buddhist complex. It was founded in 1654 by Khoshut Taishi Ablai (d. 1674). In 1671, during internecine fighting, it was captured by Galdan and left to ruin. The ruins of the monastery are located in the Ulan district of the East Kazakhstan region. The complex was situated in the mountains and had a pentagonal shape in plan. It was surrounded by a wall up to 2 meters high. The walls protected two religious buildings, in which manuscripts, Buddha statues, and images of bodhisattvas and dharmapalas with halos were discovered in the 18th century.
