The members of each caste which took to the cultivation of this plant were somewhat looked down upon by the others and hence became a distinct group.

The explanation generally given of the distaste for the crop is that in the process of boiling the roots to extract the dye a number of insects have to be killed.

A further reason is that the red dye is considered to resemble or be equivalent to blood, the second idea being a necessary consequence of the first in primitive modes of thought, and hence to cause a certain degree of pollution to those who prepare it.

A similar objection is held to the purveying of lac-dye as shown in the article on Lakhera.

Notwithstanding this, clothes dyed red are considered lucky, and the _al_ dye was far more commonly used by Hindus than any other, prior to the introduction of aniline dyes.