Kota - History and Cultural Relations

While some scholars and members of Nilgiri communities maintain that the Kotas were placed in the Nilgiris to render services for their neighbors, the Kotas believe themselves to be autochthons. They describe a god who created the Kotas, Todas, and Kurumbas and taught them the skills they traditionally practiced in the Nilgiris. For the neighboring Communities the Kotas provided music, iron articles and silver ornaments, baskets, pottery, and a variety of other specialized goods and services. With the change to a monetary and Market economy these services are no longer required, and the vast increase in the Badaga population has made close reciprocal relationships impossible. The knowledge of many of these traditional practices among the Kotas is gradually being lost, and as yet no internal motivation has surfaced to replace lost contexts or encourage the maintenance of these arts and crafts.