Gayasura was the son of Tripurasura. He became the King after the death of his father. Like his father, he too was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. He worshipped Lord Vishnu with full devotion. He was a very pious person and was known for his righteous rule and conduct. By performing severe penance, he gained the kingship of all the three worlds and gained a boon that anybody who would see him would be free from all karmas. This perturbed the Devas, as Dharma and Karma were together. Dharma would not be followed as people would stop fearing their karma and not perform good deeds. The demigods approached the Trinity and requested them to stop Gayasur. The trinity decided to stop Gayasur, who although a righteous one was putting a hindrance in the rules of creation. According to the plan, the Trimurtis approached Gayasura in the disguise of Brahmins i.e priests and said, "O Gayasura! we want to perform 'yagna' for continuous seven days on a pure land to bring down rains on the parched Earth. And we want to do it on your body."Gayasura felt great for the compliment without knowing that he was being tricked by the Trimurtis. He gladly agreed to the same.The Brahmins said, "O asura! Beware you are supposed to lie on your back on the ground and should not move till the 'yagna' is completed on the 7th day. If you move your body before the completion of 'yagna', you will meet with your death."The asura gladly agreed with the condition and lie down still with his back on the ground. He increased his body to such an extent that his head region remained in a place called Gaya in Bihar, his abdomen region remained in a place called Jajpur in Odisha and his leg region remained in Pithikapuram in Andhra Pradesh.The Trimurtis thus started performing the 'yagna'. Lord Vishnu performed it in the head region, Brahma in the abdomen region and Shiva in the leg region. Gayasur kept the count of the days through the crowing of the cock crowing in the morning. The 'yagna' went uninterrupted continuously for six days. Before completion of the 7th day, Lord Shiva crowed like a cock before it was dawn only to trick Gayasura who thought that 7 days are completed and thus slightly moved his body.The Brahmins thus spoke, "O asura, the 7th day is not yet completed and still the 'yagna' is going on. So, according to the condition, we are bound to kill you."Gayasura then understood that the three Brahmins are none other than the Trimurtis and was happily agreed to meet his death in the hands of Trimurtis. The Trinity were pleased with his righteousness and asked him for a boon. Then Gayasur told them that he had no personal desires, but wanted his name to be remembered along with the Trinty. He requested to adorn his body they did as Brahmins permanently. He requests to grant a boon that if one's ancestors were given oblations at these three places, then they would have no rebirth.There is a statue of Gayasura at Kukuteswara Swamy temple in Pithapuram. The word 'kukuta' means cock in the local language. As Lord Shiva crowed like a cock in the mythological story, He is worshipped in the name of 'Kukuteswara' in this temple. Lord Vishnu took the form of Gadadhar at Gaya and Brahma Ji is worshipped as Girijadevi at Nabhigaya(Odisha).Gaya was transformed into a series of rocky hills that make up the landscape of the Gaya Kshetra. Many people have flocked to Gaya to perform shraddha sacrifices on his body to absolve the sins of their ancestors. Demigods and goddesses had promised to live on Gayasur's body after he died, and so the hilltop protuberances of Gaya are surmounted by various temples. These hilltop temples at Rama Shila, Preta Shila, Ram Gaya Pahar, and Brahmayoni are part of the pilgrimage circuit, and grand staircases have been built up to most of them.Thus, Gayasur was stopped by the Trinity not to hinder the rules of creation but also was blessed by the Trinity for his selflessness and righteous conduct.
