One of the oldest musical instruments of India, the instrument is a keyless transverse flute made of bamboo. The fingers of both hands are used to close and open the holes. It has a blowing hole near one end, and eight closely placed finger holes. The instrument comes in various sizes.

It is associated with the Lord Krishna, who is often depicted playing it. This kind of flute is mainly used in South India.The Lord Vishnu is portrayed as Sri Venugopala - playing the flute of Creation.

It is capable of producing two and half octaves with the help of overblowing and cross fingering.

The flute is like the human voice in that it is monophonous and also has the two and half octaves sound reproduction. Sliding the fingers on and off the holes allows for a great degree of ornamentation, important in the performance of raga-based music.

Popular Flautists

Venu players of the past

* Palladam Sanjiva Rao

* H Ramachandra Shastry

* Flute Mali

* B Shankar Rao

* Prapancham Seetharaman

* Sikkil Sisters - Kunjumani & Neela

* Dr N Ramani

* Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar

* T S Sankaran

* S Shashank