Kota tribes of Karnataka have marked their position among the different tribal communities who reside in Karnataka. Apart from Karnataka state, these Kota tribes are found in large numbers in other state of Southern part of Indian subcontinent like Tamil Nadu and also Nilgiri hills, Kotagiri districts of Tamil Nadu etc.

The lifestyle and culture of the Kota tribal community have a rich history behind it. Since by nature this Kota tribal community is quite shy and introvert, it is only natural that the Kota tribal community would maintain alienation from the rest of the modern world and civilization. This Kota tribal community belongs to the categories of the hill tribes of Indian subcontinent. The Kota tribal community is one of the `consanguineous` tribes who have been descended from the same forefather. Due to the voluntary isolation of the Kota tribal community, conjugation has taken place, which has lead to their high rate of `mortality`. The people of this community are well conversant in their local dialect of the same name.

Origination of this Kota tribal community of Karnataka has got a wonderful history behind it. The Kota tribal community has reached their present locales only after migrating from several other places which started from the northeastern countries, some where near Sudan. The journey of the emigration of this Kota tribal community begun in the early years of the eighteenth century and after almost one hundred and fifty years back these Kota tribes came in contact with foreigners like Europeans. The chronicles of the several of the Europeans, which all dates back to the 1870 and onwards have also, made a mentioning of the Kota tribes. According to them, Christian missionaries made an entry to the region in the early nineteenth century and also converted several of the Kota tribes. Moreover, the Kota tribal community has got close relation with the Toda tribe.

In order to sustain their livelihood, maximum members of the Kota tribal community have adapted to the cultivation and farming. These Kota tribal communities are adept in art and craftsmanship. It has been relevant from the numerous art works of terracotta and pottery that they have created with lots of skill and expertise.

This Kota tribal community has an orientation towards religion and also spiritual beliefs. There are wooden sculptures enclosed with sheets of metals like copper and brass are being fixed to the baskets full of bones. All the Kota tribes revere these sculptures as their principal deities. Legends are popular in the Kota tribal society about their power. Some Kota tribes proclaim that these images are conceptual portrayal of the dead person, while others believe that they are simply to guard the spirit of the deceased from evil persons.

The costumes and dresses of this Kota tribal community add to the beauty and allure of them. These Kota tribes have a kind of fascination to draw their faces with blue paints. The application of this ghastly color marks the transformation of a Kota lad into a male. This is done so that the child should undergo death before his transformation into an adult. This blue painting is a suggestion to the passing away of their childhood days. This is one of the common beliefs that are prevalent amongst the Kota tribal community. Just like any other tribal communities of the whole of Indian Territory, offering of wild beasts are quite prominent. Nowadays, under the impact of the modern day society, these Kota tribes too offer money instead of sacrificing all the wild animals.

For carrying on administration and controlling also, each and every tribe of the Kota community has developed their own unique system. Each Kota village has a head who has acquired this position on the basis of his relation with the founding family of that Kota village. He rightly plays the role of arbiter and thus fulfill al his political duties and responsibilities. Beside this Kota village head supervises all the activities related to religious rites and rituals. This endows him the task of justifying the responsibility of his tenure and office. In each of the Kota villages, there are bark houses, which are all built in a more or less balanced manner along the straight streets.