One of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo and is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the Southern Indian Carnatic music tradition, but is also very popular in all Southern Indian styles. In Northern Indian music, a similar flute is called bansuri.

A venu is constructed with 8 playing holes and 1 blowing hole. Of these 8 playing holes, 7 are actually used for playing and the last finger hole is used in tuning. The bansuri uses 6 playing holes and 1 blowing hole.