The world’s biggest family: A 66-year-old man in India‘s remote northeast has 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren, all living under one roof.
They all live in a four storied building with 100 rooms in a mountainous village in Mizoram state, sharing borders with Burma and Bangladesh, according to reports.
“I once married 10 women in one year,” Ziona Chana said.
His wives share a dormitory near Ziona’s private bedroom and locals said he likes to have seven or eight of them by his side at all times.
The sons and their wives, and all their children, live in different rooms in the same building, but share a common kitchen.
The wives take turns cooking, while his daughters clean the house and do washing. The men do outdoor jobs like farming and taking care of livestock.
The family, all 167 of them, consumes around 200lb of rice and more than 130lb of potatoes a day. They are supported by their own resources and occasional donations from followers.
“Even today, I am ready to expand my family and willing to go to any extent to marry,” Ziona said.
“I have so many people to care (for) and look after, and I consider myself a lucky man.”
Mr Chana met his oldest wife, who is three years older than he is, when he was 17.
He heads a local Christian religious sect, called the “Chana”, which allows polygamy. Formed in June 1942, the sect believes it will soon be ruling the world with Christ and has a membership of around 400 families.
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 Mr Chana’s bedroom.
Rinkmini, one of Mr Chana’s wives who is 35 years old, said: ‘We stay around him as he is the most important person in the house. He is the most handsome person in the village.
She says Mr Chana noticed her on a morning walk in the village 18 years ago and wrote her a letter asking for her hand in marriage.
Another of his wives, Huntharnghanki, said the entire family gets along well. The family system is reportedly based on ‘mutual love and respect’
Chana, whose religious sect has 4,00 members, says he has not stopped looking for new wives.
‘To expand my sect, I am willing to go even to the U.S. to marry,’ he said.
One of his sons insisted that Mr Chana, whose grandfather also had many wives, marries the poor women from the village so he can look after them.
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