Venu

The "venu" (Sanskrit: _sa. ; IAST|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 "venu"'s north Indian counterpart is called "bansuri".

Famous "venu" players of the past

* Sarabha Sastry
* Palladam Sanjeeva Rao
* Kalaimamani Sri H. Ramachandra Shastry - A disciple of Sri Palladam Sanjeeva Rao.
* 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."

Famous contemporary "venu" players

* Kalaimamani Prof. Prapancham Sita Ram
* Padmashree Sikkil Sisters - Kunjumani & Neela
* Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. N. Ramani [http://fluteramani.com] - disciple of T. R. Mahalingam
* Sikkil Mala Chandrasekar
* S. Shashank - A child prodigy who started to play the flute at the age of six years and give his first concert performance at the age of twelve years.
* Late B. N. Suresh
* Late T. Viswanathan - Grandson of Veena Dhanammal and brother of Balasaraswati
* K. S. Gopalakrishnan (Different from the 'famous' Malayalam sex movie producer.)
* [http://www.fluteraman.com/ Flute Raman]
* BV Bala Sai
* B.K Ananthram and his son Amit Nadig ( The only father-son duo in karnatic flute )
* Venu InApp

The "venu" is similar to the "bansuri", a bamboo flute used in the Hindustani classical music of North India.

Venu is also a nickname for the Hindu god Krishna. Because Krishna plays a "venuvu" , so his name has become Venu.Fact|date=March 2007

ee 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".Fact|date=February 2007
* Carnatic Music
* Hindustani Music

External links

* [http://www.anubodh.com/Carnatic_fing_chart/Carnatic_Fing_Chart.html Carnatic Flute Fingering Chart]