Karva Chauth (Hindi: करवा चौथ, Punjabi: ਕਰਵਾ ਚੌਥ, Urdu: کروا چوتھ) is an annual one-day festival celebrated by Hindu and some Sikh women in North India, the Indian state of Gujarat and parts of Pakistan in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. The fast is observed in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Indian Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The festival falls on the fourth day after the full moon, in the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Kartik, following the Autumnal Equinox.^{[citation needed]} Sometimes, unmarried women observe the fast for their fiances or desired husbands.

Karva is another word for diya (a small earthen oil-lamp) and chauth means 'fourth' in Hindi (a reference to the fact that the festival falls on the fourth day of the dark-fortnight, or krishna paksh, of the month of Kartik).

It is uncertain how the festival originated and how it came to be celebrated only in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. One hypothesis is that military campaigns and long-distance travel usually resumed around the time of the festival, as the area dried and numerous rivers of the region (see: Sapta Sindhu) subsided from the effects of the monsoon. Women observed the fast to pray for the safety of their husbands at this time as they ventured away from home. The festival also coincides with the wheat-sowing time (i.e. the beginning of the Rabi crop cycle). Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are also sometimes called karvas, so the fast may also have begun as a prayer for a good harvest in this predominantly wheat-eating region.

Shweta Tiwari (Hindi: श्वेता तिवारी) (born 4 October 1980 in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India in a Saryupareen Brahmins family) is an Indian film and television actress. She gained popularity for her role of Prerna in Balaji Telefilms's television serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay that used to be aired on an Indian television channel STAR Plus. She is the winner of the fourth season of the reality television show Bigg Boss.

While playing Bahu V on stage, Shweta was noticed by a well-known director^[who?] and started her acting career in 1999 with Kaleerein. She shot to fame for her role of Prerna in the television serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay. She has done several advertisements, dance shows, plays and cameos in other television serials. Some of her other popular television serials include Aane Wala Pal, Karam, Kaahin Kissii Roz, Kya Hadsa Kya Haqeeqat, Rishtey, Daddy Samjha Karo, Dost, Yatra, Naaginn and Ajeeb.

She is also active in Bollywood and Bhojpuri cinema and has played supporting roles in Madhoshi (2004), Abrakadabra and Benny And Babloo (2010). She appeared in the Bhojpuri film Hamar Sayian Hindustani along with her ex-husband Raja Chaudhary.

Amrita Rao (əmrɪt̪aː ˈraːu; born June 17, 1981)^{[citation needed]} is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films.

Beginning her career as a model, Rao made her acting debut with Ab Ke Baras (2002). She then starred in Ken Ghosh's love-story Ishq Vishk (2003) and earned a Filmfare nomination in the "Best Female Debut" category.

Amrita was born in Mumbai to a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family. She speaks Hindi, English, Marathi, besides her mother tongue, Konkani. She attended Convent Girls School (Prabhadevi) in Mumbai, and later enrolled in Sophia College to pursue a degree in Psychology. Her sister, Preetika Rao, is a Model, Journalist-Columnist and a South-Indian film actress.

While studying in Sophia College, Amrita auditioned for an advertisement for Fairever Face Cream. Her appearance in Cadbury’s Perk Karwa Chaut ad and the Bru Coffee advertisement helped her receive offers from film directors in Bollywood.^{[citation needed]}

Amrita made her acting debut with Anjali Thapar/Nandini in Ab Ke Baras with Arya Babbar (2002), and followed that with her (2003) film, Ishq Vishk, in which she portrayed Payal with Shahid Kapoor. She became an overnight star after the success that film. She followed this up with films Aanchal Mehta in Masti and in (2004) she playing Sanjana (Sanju) Bakshi in Main Hoon Na with Zayed Khan , Deewaar (2004), and she playing Priya Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi with Shahid Kapoor (2005), and Madhvi in Shikharwith her co-Star Shahid Kapoor (2005), and she role Piya inPyare Mohan with vivek oberoi (2006). (2006) She was playing in Heyy Babyy in Special appearance in song "Heyy Babyy. She starred in Sooraj R. Barjatya's Blockbuster Vivah (2006) opposite Shahid Kapoor.

Shahid Kapoor (born 25 February 1981) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.

Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal (1999). Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq Vishk (2003) and won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance. Following through with films like Fida (2004) and Shikhar (2005), he had his first major commercial success with Sooraj R. Barjatya's Vivah (2006), his biggest commercial success, and followed it up with Jab We Met (2007) and Kaminey (2009), both of which earned him Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare ceremony.

Kapoor was born to actor Pankaj Kapoor and actor/classical dancer Neelima Azeem on 25 February 1981. Kapoor's parents divorced when he was 3. After the divorce, he lived with his mother and maternal grandparents in Junaghad. He shared a good relationship with his father and stepmother Supriya Pathak. As far as his religious affiliation is concerned, Kapoor has stated in an interview that while his father is a Sikh and his mother is a Muslim, both his parents have taught him that he "should look at all religions without hatred and have compassion for every human being whatever his religion may be," saying that he believes that "there is one God up above."

Anuradha Paudwal is a popular playback singer in Bollywood in India. She has sung songs in Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, and Nepali.

She studied at Xavier's College in Mumbai. She was married to the late Arun Paudwal, who worked with music director S. D. Burman as his assistant. Her singing career started in 1973 with the movie, Abhimaan, (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan) in which she sang a Shloka (a Sanskrit verse). In the same year she also made her Marathi film debut with "Yashoda" (music by Datta Davjekar). In 1974, she brought out a record of Non-film Marathi songs or "bhav geeten" which became very popular.

In 1976, she got her break as a playback singer in Hindi films with Kalicharan (starring Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy). Her first solo was in the movie, Aap Beati, (starring Hema Malini and Shashi Kapoor). Laxmikant-Pyarelal were the music-composer duo for that movie. She also occasionally sang songs for composers Rajesh Roshan (Des Pardes), Jaidev (Dooriyan, Laila Majnu), Kalyanji Anandji (Kalaakar, Vidhaata), and Usha Khanna (Souten, Sajan Bina Suhagan).