Sahasra Linga

Northwest corner
Parashurameshvara Temple

This unusual lingam, set up just northwest of the jagamohan, is carved with 1000 miniature representations of itself. I have not counted them individually, but multiplying 20 rows times 25 miniatures (more or less) per row times 2 for the other half of the linga, gives an estimated total which is pretty close to the claimed number.

Representing an icon in multiplicity is intended to show the enormous power of the multiplied object. In Heian Japan, a team of sculptors at Sanjusangen-do made 1001 copies of a statue of Kannon (Avalokiteshvara) for the same reason. Copies of Buddhas are also sometimes multiplied like this; for example, in Cave 7 at Ajanta, or Temple 12 at Nalanda.