The bansuri  is a transverse alto flute of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is depicted in Buddhist paintings from around 100 AD. It is intimately associated with Krishna's Rasa lila; the tunes on his flute are poetically associated with driving the women of Braj mad. The North Indian bansuri, typically about 14 inches long, was traditionally used as a soprano instrument primarily for accompaniment in lighter compositions including film music. There are many size of bansuri from 14" to 30".

Playing
The index, middle, and fourth fingers of both hands are usually used to play the six hole bansuri.
The sound from a bansuri comes from resonance in the air column inside it. The length of this column can be varied by closing or opening the holes. At the same time, keeping a hole half-open helps in getting a flat note. The 'sa' (on the Indian sargam scale, or equivalent 'do' on the octave) note is obtained by covering the top three holes from the mouth-hole. The higher and lower octaves are played by changing one's embouchure. The flat portion of fingers, and not the tips, are used to cover the holes as this gives better control and ease while playing the half-holes. While playing, the sitting posture is also important and care must be taken so that the back is not strained for long hours.

In order to play diatonic scale on a bansuri, it is important to find where the notes lie. For e.g. in a bansuri where Sa or the tonic, played always by closing the first three holes, is equivalent to D, you can play sheet music by creating a finger notation that corresponds to different notes. A bansuri player is able to achieve the complexities of Raga music such as microtonal inflections, ornamentation, and glissando by varying breath, fast movement while playing both half and full holes, and covering the holes gradually.
Famous masters of the bansuri include Pannalal Ghosh, Vijay Raghav Rao, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Nityanand Haldipur, Raghunath Seth, and Devendra Murdeshwar.