A Man With 39 Wives

TThe senior ladies of the Chana family show what it takes just to make a meal

Ziona poses with his 39 wives at their home in Baktawng

The Ziona family in its entirety with all 181 members

With 100 rooms, the Ziona mansion is the biggest concrete structure in the hilly village of Baktawng in Mizoram, India

Shared bedroom: A look inside the four-storey mansion, Chhuanthar Run - The House of the New Generation

Meet Zionnghaka,a man in Mizoram, the Dasaratha of this new age.

Ziona, who celebrated his 67th birthday on July 21, has 39 wives who have an age range of 31 to 71(Check out the below Gallery). Not only that, Ziona, is still keen to expand his family by marrying a few more women. “I can travel beyond the borders of Mizoram or even India to marry as that would help me to expand my family,” says the head of the world’s largest family.

Coincidentally, Ziona is also head of breakaway sect of the Presbyterian Church, which allowspolygamy(to marry as many wives as a man wants).

He has 94 children,15 daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren and all stay together with him in a 100-room, four-storyed house named ‘Chhuan That Run’ or the House of the New Generation in Baktawng Tlangnuam village in Mizoram.

His first and oldest wife Zathiangi, who bore him seven children, is now 71 years old(4 years older than Ziona) while the youngest wife Vanlalsiami, whom he married in 2000, is now 31 years and has a five-year-old daughter. He keeps the youngest women near to his bedroom with the older members of the family sleeping further away – and there is a rotation system for who visits Ziona’s bedroom.

The entire family shares the same kitchen and has all their meals together. The family eats 35 to 40 kilogramme for dinner and 50 kilogramme of rice for the morning meal.The family’s dinner usually includes 25 kilogramme of potato, 15 kilograms of pulses and a large quantity of vegetables. The wives take turns cooking, while his daughters clean the house and do washing. His family owns jhums, orchards, furniture workshops and stone mines where he works with his sons daily to provide a living for the enormous family.