The venu (Sanskrit: वेणु; veṇu) is a bamboo transverse flute used in the Carnatic music of South India. Although it is often called Carnatic flute or simply flute in English, venu is the instrument's ancient Sanskrit name. It is also called by various other names in the languages of South India, including pullanguzhal (in both Tamil and Malayalam), and koLalu in Kannada. It is known as venu in Telugu (Andhra Pradesh).
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.
The venu is associated with the Hindu god Krishna, who is often depicted playing it. This kind of flute is mainly used in South India, and also goes by the name Venu.
The venu is capable of producing two and half octaves with the help of blowing - 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.
The late T. R. Mahalingam - A child prodigy who started playing the flute at the age of five years. He is most popularly known as "Mali" or sometimes "Flute Mali."
Venu is also a nickname for the Hindu god Krishna. Because Krishna plays a venuvu, so his name has become Venu.citation needed
See also
Bansuri - The bansuri from the Hindustani music tradition is a 7/8 holed flute. Lord Krishna was also known as Venu-gopala (Gopala playing the Venu) and the music from his flute was called as Venu Naadham.citation needed
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