Cave 11

A vihāra from the Later period, the cave has a porch, hall, shrine and cells.

It is one of the first few caves to be excavated from the Later period.

The facade is adorned with the railing pattern. The cave has only six cells with none on the right as there is hardly any gap between the walls of Cave 11 and 10. On the right of the shrine door, below the throne of the Buddha, an inscription states that the image of the Buddha was the deyadharma or the gift of the upasaka or lay worshipper Mitradharma. Several sculptures at Ajanta from the Later phase were made by lay worshippers.

The Buddha sits in padmāsana with his hands in the dharmachakrapravartanamudrā, where the thumb and index fingers of both hands form a circle each. Above the Buddha are present dwarfs carrying garlands. The depiction of deer flanking either side of a disc in the middle represents the first sermon that the Buddha gave in the deer park at Sarnath, the day that the Dharmachakra, or the wheel of Dharma, started rotating.