The Nilgiris is the home to most of the hill tribes of Tamil Nadu. Of all the distinct tribes, the Todas, the Kotas, the Kurumbas, the Irulas and the Badagas are the larger groups, who mainly had a pastoral existence.

Men from the tribal family are occupied in grazing and milking their large herds of buffaloes. This tribe is distinguished by their traditional costume, thick white cotton cloth having stripes in red, blue or black, called puthukuli worn by both men and women over a waist cloth. The men are distinguished by their closely cut hair and the women are noted by the long ringlets of tresses hanging on either side of their face. The ornaments are made of silver and iron. Their settlements are known as Munds comprising of five-six typical wagon shaped, windowless split bamboos, reeds and thatch huts. There is a sacred temple in each mund called boa of a similar construction. They do not worship any god and their consciousness is cosmic. Today there are about thousand Todas left and many young people leave the munds to join the mainstream.

Belonging to the backward class, Badagas are not classified as tribals. They are an agricultural community, dwelling in the higher plateau of the Nilgiris district. They are engaged in potato growing and tea cultivation. They speak a language which is a mixture of Kannada and Tamil. Forming the largest group of tribes they have a rich oral tradition of folktales, poetry and songs.

Mainly concentrated in the Tiruchigadi area in the Nilgiris Hills, the Kotas are distinguished by their colourful folk dances and are basically musicians, who play at Badaa funerals. They are mainly engaged in producing handicrafts. They are expert iron smiths, carpenters and potters. Their population is very small and they live in huts that have a living and sleeping area and a place of worship. They speak a language derived from Kannada and Tamil.

The Kurumbas inhabit the intermediate valleys and forests in villages and were known for their witchcraft and black magic in the past. Their way of living today has changed from their original hunting and gathering existence to working in tea and coffee plantations as labourers.

The Irulas occupy the lower slopes and forests at the base of the Nilgiris Hills. They constitute the second largest group of tribes after the Badagas and are similar to the Kurumbas in many ways. They produce honey, fruits, roots, herbs, gum, dyes etc., and trade them with the people in the plains. In the recent times the Irulas help in catching snakes and collect the snake venom. The tribals way of living is slowly changing from their original forest dweller existence to one near the mainstream.