Kota Brahmins are an ethnic group that hail from the Kundapur and surrounding areas of Udupi district in Karnataka, Bantwal and Puttur taluk in Mangalore district. Originally thought to have been brought to Kota (Udupi Taluk) and adjacent areas from northern India by Parashurama, they speak a Kannada different from the other regional dialects. Kota Brahmins who had been originally concentrated in the villages of Kota, Saligrama, Koteshwara and Kundapura of Udupi district, have spread to other areas.
Kotas are a subsect of the Brahmin caste of Hinduism.
References
Kota Brahmins Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA