Aizawl:
The Christian sect, “Chhuanthar Kohhran”, will no longer be headed by a godlike figure, but by a group of clergymen.
“The church and the whole community at Chhuanthar Tlangnuam are now administered by an executive committee composed mainly of church elders and no single leader would be there,” said C Lalrinthanga, a church elder of the sect, on April 17.
Earlier on June 13, 2021, Ziona’s demise had left a void in the sect’s leadership for a year and it had remained leaderless since then. Ziona, who was dubbed as the patriarch of the “world’s largest family”, had died at the age of 76 on the above-mentioned date.
The 3000- members of the sect, whose name literally translates into “Church of the New Generation”, and Ziona’s family comprising of 39 wives, about 100 children and over 100 grandchildren, live in a separate village called Chhuanthar Tlangnuam, near Baktawng village in Serchhip district.
Lalrinthanga said that the church’s executive committee has Nunthangzuala, younger brother of Ziona, as its chairman, who chaired all the religious meetings.
Ironically, the high priest appointed by Ziona, who had earlier chaired all the social gatherings, was not a member of the executive committee of the church.
“We (the committee) will be looking after the church and the community by following the words and writings left behind by ‘Hotupa’ (our leader, meaning Ziona),” he said.
The cult, founded in 1942, had a tradition of having polygamists as leaders, and it was speculated that one of Ziona’s sons, who had more than one wives, would emerge as the leader of Chhuanthar Kohhran.
The cult was initially led by Khuangtuahthanga, Ziona’s uncle until Ziona’s father Chana took over the reins. Like Ziona, his father Chana and uncle Khuangtuahthanga were also polygamists. However, no single leader stood up to lead the sect and the responsibility fell on over 20 church leaders appointed by Ziona in his lifetime and none of the late leader’s sons, including the ‘top three’, were not included in the executive committee.
The sons, however, were informed of the decisions of the executive committee from time to time. “Our leader Ziona was given to us by God even before he was born,” Lalrinthanga said, adding that Ziona’s father Chana had predicted that the son, while in her mother’s womb, would be born and would be named Zionnghaka, his anointed successor.
This time around, the cult community had never had any words handed down from God through Ziona about his successor, he said.
The sect, earlier known as ‘Khuangtuaha Pawl’ or Khuangtuaha sect, after the name of the “spiritual” founder Khuangtuahthanga, was renamed by the general public as “Chana Pawl” (sect) after Chana, younger brother of Khuangtuahthanga took over the reins of leadership after the demise of the older brother.
Ziona became famous after he was discovered by the media that he had 39 wives, about 100 children and over 100 grandchildren and the family numbering 200 members were living at “Chhuanthar Run” (house of the new generation), the abode of the patriarch, a four-storied RCC building in Chhuanthar Tlangnuam village.
There were his daughters and granddaughters who married and left the ancestral home and started living with their husbands.
In spite of many of his daughters having left his house after marriage, around 200 people are still living in Chhuanthar Run, the eldest son Nunparliana (62), earlier regarded as the heir-apparent by some members of the sect, after his father’s death, has two wives and 13 children.
Though no one wanted to poke their noses in the affairs of the biggest family, one would presume that Nunparliana would be the one to look after the affairs of the home his father left, of course with the able guidance of his mother and other younger mothers.