Rangari caste is surname of many people in southern India. Rangari caste meaning is The Rangaris are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as being a caste of dyers and tailors found in almost all the Telugu districts. They are of Maratha origin, and still speak that language. They worship the goddess Ambabhavani. The dead are either burned or buried. Their title is Rao.
In an account of the Rangaris of the North Arcot district, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes that Rangari is a caste of dyers, chiefly found in Walajapet. They claim to be Kshatriyas, who accompanied Rama in his conquest of Ceylon, from which fact one of their names, Langari (lanka, the island, i.e, Ceylon), is said to be derived. Rama, for some reason or other, became incensed against, and persecuted them. Most were destroyed, but a respectable Kshatriya lady saved her two sons by taking off their sacred threads and causing one to pretend that he was a tailor sewing, and the other that he was a dyer, colouring his thread with the red betel nut and leaf, which she hurriedly supplied out [244]of her mouth. The boys became the progenitors of the caste, the members of which now wear the thread. The descendants of the one brother are tailors, and of the other, the most numerous, dyers. Their chief feasts are the Dassara and Kaman, the former celebrated in honour of the goddess Tuljabhavani and the latter of Manmada, the Indian Cupid, fabled to have been destroyed by the flame of Sivas third eye. During the Kaman feast, fires of combustible materials are lighted, round which the votaries gather, and, beating their mouths, exclaimlaba, laba, lamenting the death of Cupid. In this feast Rajputs, Mahrattas, Bondilis, and Guzeratis also join. The Rangaris speak Marathi, which they write in the northern character, and name Poona and Sholapur as the places in which they originally resided. In appearance they do not at all resemble the other claimants to Kshatriya descent, the Razus and Rajputs, for they are poorly developed and by no means handsome. Widow remarriage is permitted where children have not been born, but remarried widows are prohibited from taking part in religious processions, which seems a sign that the concession has been reluctantly permitted. In most of their customs they differ but little from the Razus, eating meat and drinking spirits, but not keeping their women gosha.
All the Rangaris examined by me at Adoni in the Bellary district were tailors. Like other Maratha classes they had a high cephalic index (av. 79; max. 92), and it was noticeable that the breadth of the head exceeded 15 cm. in nine out of thirty individuals.
In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bahusagara, Malla or Mulla, and Namdev are given as synonyms, and Chimpiga (tailor) and Unupulavadu (dyer) as sub-castes of Rangari.[245]
Rangari caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Rangari caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Rangari caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Rangari caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Rangari caste is also known as Rangari Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.