Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/12

KOTA tradition that the Kotas were formerly one with the Todas, with whom they tended the herds of buffaloes in common. But, on one occasion, they were found to be eating the flesh of a buffalo which had died, and the Todas drove them out as being eaters of carrion. A native report before me suggests that "it is probable that, after the migration of the Kotas to the hills, anthropology was at work, and they got into them an admixture of Toda blood."

The Kotas inhabit seven villages (Kōtagirior kōkāl), of which six — Kotagiri, Kīl Kotagiri, Todanād, Sholūr, Kethi and Kūnda — are on the Nīlgiri plateau, and one is at Gudalūr at the north-west base of these hills. They form compact communities, and, at Kotagiri, their village consists of detached huts, and rows of huts arranged in streets. The huts are built of mud, brick, or stone, roofed with thatch or tiles, and divided into living and sleeping apartments. The floor is raised above the ground, and there is a verandah in front with a seat on each side whereon the Kota loves to "take his siesta, and smoke his cheroot in the shade," or sleep off the effects of a drinking bout. The door-posts of some of the huts are ornamented with carving executed by wood-carvers in the plains. A few of the huts, and one of the forges at Kotagiri, have stone pillars sculptured with fishes, lotuses, and floral embellishments by stone-carvers from the low country. It is noted by Breeks * that Kurguli (Sholūr) is the oldest of the Kota villages, and that the Badagas believe that the Kotas of this village were made by the Todas. At Kurguli there is a temple of the same form as the Toda dairy, and this is said to be the only temple of the kind at any Kota village.