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Lalpa Kohhran
The Legacy continues
64-year old Ziona holds on to family legacy ‘Lalpa Kohhran’ of polygamy, with 35 wives and over 100 children in this small village called Baktawang perched over a hillock For those who feel entering into wedlock is one time unforgettable experience, consider the experience of 64-year-old Ziona, a resident of Baktawang in Mizoram, who has undergone it thirty five times. Ziona is married to 35 wives, a father of over 100 children and still counting.
Known to his people as the head of the largest joint family in Mizoram, the largest joint family in Mizoram, with over 150 members, perching on a hillock at Baktawang village, about 80 kilometres from the state capital. However, they don’t mind being called a religious sect. The pride of nurturing the legacy of ‘Lalpa Kohhran’ founded by their godfather chana in 1966 is what binds them. The seclusion from the predominant Presbyterian denomination came in the 1930s when the church headed by the Welsh missionaries banned ‘Khuang’ (Mizo traditional drum) as an instrument of worship. Chana and his brother Khuangtuaha rebuked the church’s ban and left the church with their followers, and till date the descendants carry the faith of the forefathers. However, Ziona is not only one who has carried on the legacy, his father Chana was said to have gone far ahead marrying over 50 women. After he passed away in 1997, the legacy of ‘lalopa Kohhran’ was furthered by his eldest son Ziona.