The Bunt people are an Indian community who historically have inhabited the districts of coastal Karnataka, in South India, known for their rich cultural heritage, traditions, and values. Bunts were traditionally a warrior-class community, with agrarian origins, forming the landed gentry of the region. They are the dominant land-owning and farming community of Tulu Nadu, and speak Tulu as well as Kundagannada as their mother tongue. Today, the Bunts are a largely urbanised community, with a population size of less than one million, worldwide.

The word Bunt means powerful man or warrior in Tulu language. Bunts are also referred to as okkelme, which means farmers or cultivators and references their agrarian origins.The Bunts being the principal landowners of the region were the traditional patrons of the Buta Kola festival which included aspects akin to theatrical forms like Yakshagana.Butas and daivas (tutelary deities) are not worshiped on a daily basis like mainstream Hindu gods. Their worship is restricted to annual ritual festivals, though daily pujas may be conducted for the ritual objects, ornaments, and other paraphernalia of the būta. Unlike with the better-known Hindu gods of the puraṇic variety, buta worship is congregational and every caste in the Tulu speaking region has its own set of butas and daivas that they worship.

Most Bunts followed a matrilineal system of inheritance and the eldest male member in the female line was the head of the family. This head of the family was called Yajmane and he would preside over the manorial court during the feudal era