[2] Various lores narrate different accounts of his death at the hands of Vishnu after he refused to heed the deity's commands to go beneath the surface of earth.
[4][5] After his birth, he went to the Kolahala mountains of present-day Kashmir region[6] to meditate, where he famously stood there holding his breath for a very long time.
Vishnu then thought of a ruse to get Gayasura put an end to his penance by offering him a boon in exchange for halting his tapasya.
His navel reached the city of Jajpur in present-day Orissa in Biraja Temple (dedicated to Brahma) and was called Nabhigaya (lit.
navel of Gaya) whereas his feet reached the city of Pithapuram in present-day Andhra Pradesh in Sri Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple (dedicated to Shiva) and was called Padagaya (lit.