To show aarti timings on a 24/7 devotional stream, use the schedule confirmed by the specific temple or ritual organiser, then display the current or next aarti and its local time in an overlay. In OBS, a text source can read from a UTF-8 file, so an operator can update the wording without rebuilding the scene.
The overlay does not know when a temple changes its programme. Unless you have built and tested a schedule feed, someone must check the source schedule and update the displayed text. Name the temple or location and time zone clearly so viewers do not mistake a local time for a universal one.
Start with the temple’s confirmed schedule
Ask the temple or ritual organiser for the schedule that applies to the stream. Check its official website, notice, or direct communication, and record when you confirmed it. Include the temple name, location, event name, time and time zone in your working notes. If the organiser publishes a revised programme for a festival or special service, that takes precedence over a routine daily timetable.
Do not fill gaps with a generic list of aarti times. Ritual schedules differ by temple and may change by date or occasion. For example, the Hindu Temple Society of North America publishes a daily aarti time for its own location and warns that streaming times can change around festivals. That is useful evidence for that temple, not a timetable to reuse elsewhere. Its schedule and streaming notice are a reminder to confirm the source behind your own overlay. Shri Kesariyaji Temple also publishes a sequence of daily ritual timings for its own temple; consult its published schedule only if that is the location relevant to your broadcast.
Keep a copy or note of the confirmation so the person updating the overlay has something to refer to. A simple record might read: “Temple: [name], location: [city], schedule checked: [date], time zone: [zone], next confirmed update: [date or event].” The date is an internal check, not a claim that the schedule remains valid indefinitely.
Decide whether the displayed time is for an in-person ritual, the stream’s presentation, or both. If the stream is delayed or uses a prepared programme rather than a live temple camera, do not imply that a ritual is happening live at the moment viewers see it. Wording such as “Temple schedule: Evening Aarti, 7:30 p.m. IST” is more precise than “Live now” when the video is prerecorded or the broadcast is not synchronised to the ceremony.
Choose whether to show the current or next aarti
A label should answer a viewer’s immediate question without competing with the devotional content. Usually that means the event name, one time and a time-zone label. For instance, after confirming the actual schedule, you might use “Next: Evening Aarti — 7:30 p.m. IST”. That wording is illustrative, not a recommended universal time. Replace it with the name, time and zone verified for your temple.
Choose “Current” only when someone can reliably decide that the event has begun and ended according to the temple’s schedule. If the broadcast is a continuous loop with no live ritual feed, a “Next” label or a notice that gives the temple’s scheduled time is less likely to mislead. Avoid a countdown unless the time source and clock handling have been tested; a countdown that drifts or uses the wrong time zone is more confusing than a static label.
Think through what viewers need overnight and across regions. A viewer in India may understand IST, while viewers elsewhere may not. Spell out the zone or use an unambiguous abbreviation alongside the temple’s city. Avoid a bare “7:30” or “evening”, which leaves the day and zone unclear. If schedules are date-specific, include the relevant date as well, particularly when the stream will remain live through a special programme.
Keep the label short enough to read over the video. If you need to explain a schedule exception, put that detail in a separate line or in the stream description rather than compressing several events into one small overlay. If you also need captions or text for spoken content, treat that as a separate readability task; the process in this guide to adding subtitles to a 24/7 children’s story livestream is relevant to keeping on-screen text legible, even though the subject is different.
Build an OBS text overlay
In OBS, make a scene that combines the devotional video or prepared visual loop, audio, and schedule text. Add a text source for the aarti label, position it in a consistent area, and make sure it remains visible against both bright and dark parts of the footage. OBS’s reference manual for text sources documents text that can be read from a file and reloaded when that file is saved. It also documents reusable scenes, which can help if your production uses the same schedule treatment across more than one visual layout.
Start with a restrained treatment: solid or lightly shaded backing behind the words, sufficient contrast, and a font size that remains readable on a phone. Avoid placing the label over a face, a lamp, a deity image, or a key part of the ritual. Do not assume that a text size that looks good in the OBS preview will be legible on a small device. Check it at the actual output resolution and in a mobile viewing test.
Separate the overlay from the visual content in your scene. That makes it easier to replace the background footage without disturbing the schedule layout. Name sources clearly, for example “Aarti schedule text”, rather than “Text 3”. If you have a scene for a starting slate or a temporary notice, confirm which scenes include the schedule source and which do not. A scene switch that silently removes the timing can leave the stream showing an outdated or absent label.
The underlying broadcast can be a live camera, an original prepared programme or a loop of prerecorded video. These are different production choices, and none changes the requirement to use material you have permission to broadcast. YouTube’s encoder help explains the encoder workflow for sending an external audio and video production to a live stream. YouTube supports software encoders as well as standalone hardware encoders; an appliance is optional, not a prerequisite for adding this OBS overlay.
If the stream uses recordings, chants, compositions, temple footage or images, confirm the relevant rights before broadcasting. YouTube says live streams are scanned for matches to third-party content. A rights owner may need to allowlist a channel for licensed material to avoid an interruption. Keep written permissions and ask the rights holder about any required channel allowlisting; having a licence does not itself guarantee that a live broadcast will continue uninterrupted.
Update the overlay from a UTF-8 file
A file-based text source gives an operator a simple way to change the label without opening the scene layout every time. Create a plain text file encoded as UTF-8 and point the OBS text source to it. The exact control names can vary with the OBS version and operating system, so confirm the source settings in the version you use. Use a short, predictable path that the operator can find, and keep a backup of the file and the current wording.
Write only the text you want viewers to see. For example, the file might contain “Next: [confirmed event name] — [confirmed time] [time zone]”. Save it, then confirm that the source refreshes. The OBS text-source documentation describes reloading text when a file is saved, but do not assume your editing application, file permissions or source configuration will behave correctly without a test. If a change does not appear, check that the operator edited the same file OBS is reading and that the source has not been hidden in the active scene.
Use ordinary text rather than complicated formatting or special symbols until you know they render correctly in your chosen font. If the temple’s official event name uses a language other than English, test the required script and font on the actual machine that runs OBS. UTF-8 supports a broad range of characters, but the font still needs to include the glyphs. Keep an English or transliterated fallback ready if the intended lettering displays as boxes or question marks.
A file is editable, not self-updating. A calendar, spreadsheet or other data connection would need its own tested workflow before it can safely drive the overlay. Test which event it selects, what time zone it applies, how it handles date changes and festivals, and what viewers see if the feed is unavailable or an entry is missing. The evidence for OBS supports the text-file method; it does not establish that a particular calendar integration will correctly manage aarti schedules.
Keep the last known confirmed wording available. If an operator cannot verify a changed schedule, a neutral notice such as “Please check the temple’s current schedule” is safer than displaying a time based on guesswork. That may be less informative, but it makes uncertainty visible rather than presenting an unverified time as fact.
Test timing and on-screen readability
Test the complete scene before leaving it to run. In OBS, confirm that the video, audio and schedule source are all present, and that the label has not been cropped. Save a test wording change to the text file and watch the source reload. Then restore the correct schedule text and check that it survives a scene change or OBS restart if those are part of your workflow.
Check the broadcast through YouTube’s preview before going live. YouTube’s encoder guidance recommends setting up the event in advance, starting the encoder before the event, waiting for a preview, and checking the stream from channel or watch pages and on mobile devices. In the preview, verify not just that the words appear, but that the event name, time and zone are accurate and remain readable over the actual picture.
Do a practical timing test with the person responsible for updates. Give them the source schedule and ask them to update the file without guidance. Confirm they can find the right event, use the correct time zone, save the file and verify the on-screen result. A workflow that only the original scene designer understands is a fragile fit for an always-on channel.
Check audio and visual continuity as well. A label can be correct while the stream’s sound is silent, the loop has stopped or the picture is frozen. YouTube recommends monitoring audio and video quality as part of encoder setup. If archive availability matters, plan for it explicitly: YouTube says streams under 12 hours are automatically archived, so do not assume a longer continuous stream will produce one complete automatic archive. Confirm the current guidance and decide how you will preserve any recording you need.
A software encoder such as OBS can be a practical place to build and test this overlay. If you are choosing a production approach, use the distinction below as a starting point, not as a claim that one option is right for every channel. YouTube documents both software and hardware encoder workflows; confirm the overlay capabilities of a hardware device before buying one.
| Production path | What it means for the overlay | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Software encoder, such as OBS | A text-file source can be part of the scene, so an operator can edit the wording in the file. | The computer and scene need to remain correctly configured, and somebody must maintain the text unless a tested feed is used. |
| Standalone hardware encoder | Overlay options depend on the device and the wider production workflow. | A dedicated appliance can suit a specialised production, but check its text and update workflow before purchase. |
If you need help comparing continuous-running approaches, the guide to comparing monthly cloud streaming plans covers questions to ask about operational fit. For a computer-based OBS setup, the Ubuntu continuous-streaming walkthrough is a more specific reference. A remote monitoring guide for an always-on stream can also help you plan who checks the broadcast when it is unattended; the gaming context differs, but the monitoring question is shared.
Assign an operator or use a tested schedule feed
An always-on stream still needs an owner for schedule changes. Assign a named person or role to check the temple’s updates, amend the text file and confirm the new label in the output. The duty can be shared, but everyone needs to know where the authoritative schedule is and how to handle a change that arrives while the usual operator is unavailable.
Define a handover in plain terms: what source to check, which time zone to use, where the file lives, what wording to enter, and how to confirm it is visible. Keep credentials and access limited to people who need them. A small channel might have one person update the file before a known change and another check the display after the change. The important part is clear responsibility, not adding more tools.
If the operator will be away, decide in advance whether the stream will keep showing the last confirmed schedule or switch to a general notice. Keeping a stale time can mislead viewers; removing all context may also leave them unsure. A neutral message directing viewers to the temple’s official schedule is a reasonable fallback when nobody can verify the next event.
A schedule feed can reduce manual edits, but only if it has been tested for the real source and real failure cases. Verify that entries map to the right ritual, that the time zone is explicit, that any daylight-saving changes relevant to the location are handled, and that exceptions such as festival programmes replace routine events. Test missing entries, late updates and a failed connection. A feed that has not passed those checks is not a reliable substitute for an operator.
YouTube’s live-stream setup requirements include channel verification and the absence of live-stream restrictions during the preceding period; first-time activation may take up to 24 hours. Check the current official page before planning a launch. Create or schedule the stream in YouTube Studio, use the stream URL and key supplied in the Live Control Room, then wait for the preview. Keep the stream key private, and do not treat successful transmission as proof that the overlay schedule is correct.
Keep the displayed times accurate as plans change
A schedule is a snapshot, not a permanent promise. Set a review point whenever the temple publishes a new programme, before a festival or other known special event, and when viewers or temple staff report a discrepancy. Record when the text was last checked. If the temple changes a time after the stream has been running, update the file promptly and verify the new wording in the live output.
Make the time zone part of the label or a consistent line on screen. Do not rely on a viewer’s device clock to explain which zone you mean. If the temple schedule is expressed in local time, say so in a way viewers can recognise, such as the city and a standard zone abbreviation. Where the date matters, include it. If an event crosses midnight or the schedule uses a different calendar convention, ask the organiser how it should be represented rather than converting by guesswork.
Keep a change log that is simple enough to maintain: what changed, who confirmed it, when the overlay was updated, and whether someone checked the on-screen result. This helps the next operator distinguish a confirmed new time from an old note. Do not expose private contact details or internal notes in the overlay file if OBS displays the file’s entire contents.
When no confirmed update is available, do not invent one. Use the last verified schedule only if it is still presented with its source and date context, or replace it with a notice that directs viewers to the temple’s current information. The stream remains useful without pretending that its overlay is live data.
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FAQ
Can I use the same aarti times for every devotional channel?
No. Use the schedule published or confirmed by the specific temple or ritual organiser. A published time for one location is not a universal timetable, and festival or special-event schedules may differ.
Will the OBS text overlay update automatically?
A text source can read from a UTF-8 file and reload when that file is saved, but it does not determine when aarti takes place. An operator must update the file unless you have implemented and tested a schedule feed, including its time zone and fallback behaviour.
What should the overlay say if the schedule changes?
Replace the displayed wording only after confirming the change with the temple or organiser, then check the result in the live output. If nobody can confirm the new time, use a neutral notice pointing viewers to the temple’s current schedule rather than guessing.
Do I need a hardware encoder for an always-on stream?
No. YouTube supports software encoders as well as standalone hardware encoders. Choose based on the production you need, and verify that any device you consider can support the overlay workflow you intend to use.