Cave 11 was one of the first excavations undertaken in 462 CE during the Vakataka phase by an unidentified patron. It is squeezed between and above the Cave 10 and its associated residence, Cave 12. When the excavation for Cave 11 was started in 462 CE, there was nothing else there except for the ancient caves that were still in worship. Like all of the earlier Vakataka viharas, it was planned as a simple and functional hall to be served as a dormitory. At each end of the verandah there are two cells that approached by a flight of steps and the outer cells have collapsed. The right wall of the verandah is carved with figures of Buddha in three panels. The door is plainly molded with a lion-heads at each end of the threshold. The plinth, on which the simhasana of Buddha rests, contains the kneeling figure of a devotee. Higher up in the left wall is hewn out a secret chamber probably for storing valuables. The roof of the verandah along with its projection is covered with painted motifs including varied flora, birds, beast, geometric designs etc. The back walls of the verandah immediately to the left and right of the door are painted with large-size Boddhisattvas with attendants, large portions of the paintings being damaged, the walls of the hall are painted mostly with figures of Buddha.

The cave doesn’t have an antechamber, one can see a half-finished cell at the rear that had to be converted to satisfy the new demand for a Buddha shrine, which was not started until some seven years after the cave had been begun. The shrine has an unfinished image of Buddha seated in padmasana pose with the hands in dharmacakra mudra fronts an abandoned stupa. The Cave 11 Buddha image was probably the first to have been conceived at the site before conventions had been set. It is the only image at the site earlier than 475 CE to incorporate a standalone kneeling devotee at the base instead of conventional pairs or groups found under late carved Buddha images.

Cave 11’s planned program of painting was never completed because of the strictures of the Recession. All of the hall paintings and most of the porch paintings are intrusions dating between mid-478 and 480 CE. Like most of the other caves at the site, Cave 11 must have been abandoned shortly after 480 CE by which time any active patronage either original or intrusive had ended.

References:

• Debala Mitra, Ajanta, 1964.
• Walter Spink, Ajanta: A Brief History and Guide, 1990.
• Walter Spink, Volume 18/5 Ajanta: History and Development: Cave By Cave, 2007.