The Rangaris say that when Parasurama, the Brahman, was slaying the
Kshatriyas, two brothers of the warrior caste took refuge in a temple
of Devi. One of them, called Bhaosar, threw himself upon the image,
while the other hid behind it. The goddess saved them both and told
them to adopt the vocation of dyers. The Rangaris are descended from
the brother who was called Bhaosar and the Chhipas from the other
brother, because he hid behind the image (_chhipna_, to hide). The word
is really derived from _chhapna_, to print, because the Chhipas print
coloured patterns on cotton cloths with wooden stamps. Rangari comes
from the common word _rang_ or colour. The Chhipas have a slightly
different version of the same story, according to which the goddess
gave one brother a needle and a piece of thread, and the other some
red betel-leaf which she spat at him out of her mouth; and told one to
follow the vocation of a tailor, and the other that of a dyer. Hence
the first was called Chhipi or Shimpi and the second Chhipa. This
story indicates a connection between the dyeing and tailoring castes
in the Maratha Districts, which no doubt exists, as one subcaste of
the Rangaris is named after Namdeo, the patron saint of the Shimpis
or tailors. Both the dyeing and tailoring industries are probably of
considerably later origin than that of cotton-weaving, and both are
urban rather than village industries. And this consideration perhaps
accounts for the fact that the Chhipas and Rangaris rank higher than
most of the weaving castes, and no stigma or impurity attaches to them.