Ziona

The religious sect he led was formed by his uncle Khuangtuaha in 1942 as a millennialist denomination, which survives in Serchhip district in Mizoram state of India, sharing borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

After migration from Hmawngkawn village, the sect settled in Baktawng village Mizoram, India.

Ziona (born Zionnghaka; 21 July 1945 – 13 June 2021) was the leader of Lalpa Kohhran Thar (meaning "The Lord's New Church"), informally referred to as Chana Pâwl or Chhuanthar Kohhran ("The Church of New Generation"), a polygamy-practising Christian sect in Mizoram, India.

He was often referred to as a world record holder for being the head of the "world's largest existing family" or the "world's biggest family".

Ziona was born Zionnghaka on 21 July 1945 at Hmawngkawn village in Serchhip district, which is 100 km to the south of Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram.

He is popularly known among the Mizo natives as Pu Ziona, and commonly misnamed in the non-native media as Ziona Chana.

His father was Challianchana, leader of the Christian sect, Chana Pâwl.

He married his first wife Zaṭhiangi, who is older than him by three years, at the age of 17.

Zaṭhiangi is the head wife and directs the household chores of the family with strict discipline.

In 1997, Ziona succeeded his father Chana, who in turn had succeeded Khuangtuaha in 1966.

He had 39 wives, 94 children, 14 daughters-in-law, 33 grandchildren and one great grandchild; 181 family members in total and counting.

His family and their four-story residence are one of the major tourist attractions in Mizoram.

After Chana's death on 27 February 1997, Ziona was elected as the successor.

The sect called him by the title "Hotupa" (literally meaning leader or master).

By the time he took up the leadership, he already had more wives than his father.

He married ten of his wives in the span of one year.

Ziona built a four-storied mansion, which appears like a boarding house, to accommodate his large family.

The house is called the "Chhuan Thar Run" (meaning the House of the New Generation) and is located in the mountainous village of Baktawng.

There is also a "Khualbuk" (a guesthouse) to accommodate visitors coming to the village.

Ziona had a double bedroom in the ground floor of this mansion and his wives took turns to sleep with him according to a roster.

His younger wives stayed close to his room on the same floor and there were always seven to eight wives attending to his needs during the day.

All older wives live in the dormitories on the first floor of the mansion, while his younger wives live on the ground floor.

His wives claim that there is no rivalry among them.

Of his 39 wives, 22 are below the age of 40 and they got a week to spend with him.

He has 26 sons-in-law and his daughters live separately with their families.

He said that he has named all his children and grandchildren and he remembered the names of every member of his family.

He married his last wife in 2004.

It is not known exactly how many wives he had had in his lifetime.

By 2005, three were dead and some abandoned him.

Ziona's family is self-reliant, growing crops for their food requirements.

He has also established a school for his children, and his younger brother looks after its functioning.

Though teaching in the school is based on a curriculum prescribed by the government, he has added some subjects specific to his Chana sect.

He did not seek any assistance from the government.

Ziona's wives do the cooking, and his daughters attend to cleaning of the house and take care of washing laundry.

Men of the family attend to livestock rearing, agriculture (jhum cultivation), small cottage industries of wood furniture (carpentry), aluminum utensil making, and so forth.

In 2011, as officials of the Guinness World Records made verification, he refused the world record title as he shunned publicity.

His was nonetheless listed as the "Biggest Family" in the world in 2011 by the World Record Academy, and The Wall Street Journal in 2011, and then by the London World Records in 2019.

He was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not! top 11 strangest stories for the year 2011, and in 2013's Ripley Believe It or Not book 9.

Ziona's 68th birthday was celebrated on 21 July 2013 with 150 guests.

At age 75, Ziona was diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes mellitus.