In Visakhapatnam agency, Bodo Kotias are also called Doras and claiming equal status with Bagata, a tribe with higher social status in Visakhapatnam district. Bodo Kotia people do not accept cooked food from Sano Kotia people as they are considered inferior in social status. Similarly Sano Kotia people also do not accept food from those of Putia Poiko.
Kotia tribe is divided into various totemic clans and each clan is further divided into different surnames. Some of the clan names are Matya (Fish), Naga (Snake), Geedh (Eagle), Gorapitta (a kind of bird) etc. All the sub divisions of Kotia community speak corrupt form of Oriya.
Four types of acquiring mates are in vogue in this community. They are 'Bodobiba' (marriage by negotiations), 'Udaliyajibar' (marriage by mutual love and elopement), 'Dangdigikbar' (marriage by capture) and 'Gorjuvai' (marriage by service). Both levirate and sororate are socially accepted. Divorce is permitted. Widow or widower re-marriages are permissible.
Traditional mechanism of social control among Kotias is called 'Nayaklok' and it is headed by a traditional leader called 'Nayak'. The messenger is called 'Barika'. They settle disputes like theft, divorce, land disputes, quarrels etc.
The principal deities worshipped by Kotias are 'Pedda Demudu' Sanku Demudu', 'Nandi Demudu', 'Jakari Demudu' and 'Ganga Devatha'. They celebrate festivals like Puspurab, Soyuth Purab, Nandi purab, Ashada Jathara, Gairam Panduga, Pedda Demudu Panduga, Bheema Demudu Panduga and first new crop eating festivals like Korra Kotha, Samakotha, Metta Dhanyam Kotha, Mamidi Kotha etc.
Kotias are agriculturists and raise food crops like Ragi, Jowar, maize and paddy and vegetables like cabbage, brinjal, tomato, potato etc. Kotias also raise vegetables like beans, chillies, ladies finger, ginger etc, in the back yards of their houses. They collect Non-timber forest produce items like adda leaves, tamarind sheekakai, broomsticks, mohwa flower etc, and sell to GCC.
