Verified answer

Did you mean こっち?

こっち is less polite, こちら is more polite for 敬語 (honorific)

They both mean "this", "here", "this way"

Sometimes こちら is used as "me" in place of 私 to be humble.

こちらこそ is used often too, meaning "it should be me who should be doing/saying that"

Example:

A:はじめまして。

B: こちらこそ。

In fact, ら means nothing. It's just one hiragana. Suppose somebody asks you what the last alphabet 'e' in 'here' means. It's just like that.

As for the difference,

こち is an archaic expression for "here, toward this direction, this way, this side, this place". こっち is the modern usage. And こちら is a polite form.