The iconic river Danube is central to Budapest’s identity
and it runs right through the centre of the city dividing it into two parts,
Buda and Pest, which were actually two cities united to create Budapest in the
1873. The most imposing structure by the river is the Buda castle which
dominates the river front, especially if you are on the Pest side. The river is
full of life, especially tour boats going up and down the river with tourists
enjoying the view of the magnificent buildings on the riverside. It was summer
and the peak tourist season, and there were the larger cruise boats with cabins
and decks which took tourists on a longer tour on the river. The most imposing
building on the Pest side of the river is undoubtedly the Parliament building.
It is best viewed from the other side, because walking below it and taking the
grand sweep gives you a crick in the neck. On the river bank, close to the
Parliament building is an iconic installation of Shoes on the Danube. This
installation of 60 pairs of metal shoes of different sizes put up in 2005 is a
memorial to the victims who were shot into the Danube by the Nazis in 1944 -45.
It’s a reminder of the excesses that we humans are capable of, and a lesson
that we still haven’t learnt.
On either side of the Danube is the heart of the tourist district, lined with statues, walkways and cafes. The Pest side is of course is more lively as it is flat, has more shops and markets, while the other side has the Buda palace perched upon a hill. The hillside is now an open park and a climb up to the palace is gentle though there is a funicular railway for those who are so inclined. The palace has extensive gardens and walkways littered with statues and other objects d’arts. The view of Pest from the gardens is spectacular with the St Isteban Basilica and the Parliament buildings being the most noteworthy.
This was my second visit Budapest, and unlike the last I had a little more time to explore the city. I visited the Jewish quarters, home today to one of the largest synagogues in Europe. The Nazis had walled in the entire area, and over 70,000 people lived in the Budapest ghetto. Some of the building still bore the bullet marks of the firing so many years ago. I felt a distinct chill as I walked down those streets. Behind the Synagogue was a modern monument – the Garden of Justice with the sculpture of a large tree with small silver leaves. Each leaf bore the name of one victim of the Holocaust and the trunk bore the names of others who supported them. Clearly Budapest was a city which was still coming to terms with its past.
Another place I had to go this time was the Varosliget or the City Park where I was told were a number of historical monuments and palaces. My hotel was next to the St Isteban Cathedral and right behind it started the grand Andrassy Ut (or Avenue), which went straight up to Varosliget. Andrassy Ut was a broad avenue with a grand history, and stately buildings on both sides. Seeing a Metro station at the corner I went down. The Budapest metro was quite unlike anything I had seen before. Everything was on a smaller and a more intimate scale. The wood panelled stations, the yellow toy-trains, with compartments of 16 seats looked quaint. I later learnt that it was the oldest underground railway of continental Europe and had been built specifically to take people to the Varosliget without disturbing the stately Andrassy Ut. Four stations later I got off at Hosok Tere ( Heroes Square) and walked the short distance to the Millennium Emlekmu (Monument). The City Park, the Andrassy Ut and the underground railway were all part of the Millennium celebrations in 1896.
While the Millennium Monument in the Hosok Tere was the grand centre-piece, scattered all around were a number of museums, a castles, the zoo and the Szechenyi Medicinal Baths. All these monuments were built around the celebration of the Millennium Exhibition celebrating a thousand years of Magyar conquest of the Carpathian basin leading to the establishing of a Hungarian nation. The monument consists of a central cenotaph with two arrays of statues on either side depicting Magyar chiefs on the one side and Saints who are revered in Hungary on the other. From what I could make out that the Millennium celebration was a grand affair within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it seems that the countries and cities of Europe and USA of those times were trying to outdo each other in grand celebrations. Paris had its own Exposition in 1889, celebrating a hundred years of the Fall of Bastille, with the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Like the Eiffel Tower the Heroes Square continues to be mega a tourist attraction, though Europe of today is probably much chastened after its colonial excesses and brutal World Wars.
I didn’t have much time as I was leaving in the afternoon,
so I rushed to the Vajdahunyad castle which was right behind. It is a copy of different
historical styles including a Transylvanian castle. It was originally made of
cardboard and wood it is reconstructed with brick, and today houses the Museum
of Agriculture. I was keen on visiting this castle because I had read an
announcement that there would be free folk music concert here at 10.30. When I
walked into the castle I was disappointed because there seemed to be no
arrangements for a concert, and no keen audience either. I was studying the
carving on the door of a Chapel when I suddenly heard the sound of bagpipe.
Turning around I saw a long haired man walking in the compound playing his
bagpipe which seemed to be made from the leather of one whole sheep or similar
sized animal. The interest of the visitors was piqued and as he walked into the
museum building a folk band started playing from one of the castle galleries.
We stood around below the gallery enjoying the music, but I didn’t have much
time on hand I left after a while.
I was not prepared for what I saw next. Right outside the
castle, on the lawns of the City Park, an open air exhibition and stage was a
Hare Krishna event. On the stage a woman was dancing to the rhythm of a
mridangam, and ranged around were stalls selling books, music and clothes. All
the devotees were Caucasian. I had seen the Hare Krishna devotees in many
places in the US and the UK but I hadn’t thought that the movement started by a
Bengali from Kolkata Abhay Charan De (subsequently Swami Prabhupada) had spread
so far and wide. While our current ruling party is worrying about battling
cultural invasion from the west, I wonder what they feel proud of this Indian
religious movement that seems to have a visible global following. Something
tells me that it may not be the case because the Hare Krishna devotees seem
very passive and gentle when compared to the Bajarangi bhais.
My next destination was the Szechenyi Medicinal Baths, famed
to be the largest public medicinal bath in the world. The building housing the
bath was so grand (like most Budapest buildings) that for a minute I couldn’t
believe that these were indeed public facilities. Unlike the image of public
swimming pools that I have in my mind- the building was more like a palace or a
concert hall – very ornate and completely covered. I walked in with trepidation
– the foyer was truly like that of a palace, with elaborate statues and
carving. But there were two ticket windows discreetly placed on either side of
the semi circular space. People had come with their small backpacks and were
buying tickets the very reasonably priced tickets. I looked at my watch – I
simply didn’t have the time to take dip. Resolving that I must come back again
I rushed out and went down to the Metro station right outside, a little anxious
that I would make the taxi which was to take me to the airport wait.
Here is a short film of this trip
On either side of the Danube is the heart of the tourist district, lined with statues, walkways and cafes. The Pest side is of course is more lively as it is flat, has more shops and markets, while the other side has the Buda palace perched upon a hill. The hillside is now an open park and a climb up to the palace is gentle though there is a funicular railway for those who are so inclined. The palace has extensive gardens and walkways littered with statues and other objects d’arts. The view of Pest from the gardens is spectacular with the St Isteban Basilica and the Parliament buildings being the most noteworthy.
Europe is currently in the grips of a refugee crisis and
Hungary is right in the middle of it as a stream of refugees from Syria and
other places are travelling through the country to reach Germany. When I was
Budapest the flood of refugees hadn’t started, but there were many signs of a
troubled past – not so long ago. Last year the Government had built a monument
to mark the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany. Unfortunately this didn’t go
down to well by the citizens, who saw it as an effort to rewrite history.
Hungary was a collaborator, and not a victim of the Nazi’s and thousands of
Jews had been sent off to the concentration camps. This was a history the
people didn’t want the Government to forget, and so they had started their own
installation of every day bric a brac and mementos of those times around the
Government monument and had stopped it from being officially inaugurated.
This was my second visit Budapest, and unlike the last I had a little more time to explore the city. I visited the Jewish quarters, home today to one of the largest synagogues in Europe. The Nazis had walled in the entire area, and over 70,000 people lived in the Budapest ghetto. Some of the building still bore the bullet marks of the firing so many years ago. I felt a distinct chill as I walked down those streets. Behind the Synagogue was a modern monument – the Garden of Justice with the sculpture of a large tree with small silver leaves. Each leaf bore the name of one victim of the Holocaust and the trunk bore the names of others who supported them. Clearly Budapest was a city which was still coming to terms with its past.
Another place I had to go this time was the Varosliget or the City Park where I was told were a number of historical monuments and palaces. My hotel was next to the St Isteban Cathedral and right behind it started the grand Andrassy Ut (or Avenue), which went straight up to Varosliget. Andrassy Ut was a broad avenue with a grand history, and stately buildings on both sides. Seeing a Metro station at the corner I went down. The Budapest metro was quite unlike anything I had seen before. Everything was on a smaller and a more intimate scale. The wood panelled stations, the yellow toy-trains, with compartments of 16 seats looked quaint. I later learnt that it was the oldest underground railway of continental Europe and had been built specifically to take people to the Varosliget without disturbing the stately Andrassy Ut. Four stations later I got off at Hosok Tere ( Heroes Square) and walked the short distance to the Millennium Emlekmu (Monument). The City Park, the Andrassy Ut and the underground railway were all part of the Millennium celebrations in 1896.
While the Millennium Monument in the Hosok Tere was the grand centre-piece, scattered all around were a number of museums, a castles, the zoo and the Szechenyi Medicinal Baths. All these monuments were built around the celebration of the Millennium Exhibition celebrating a thousand years of Magyar conquest of the Carpathian basin leading to the establishing of a Hungarian nation. The monument consists of a central cenotaph with two arrays of statues on either side depicting Magyar chiefs on the one side and Saints who are revered in Hungary on the other. From what I could make out that the Millennium celebration was a grand affair within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it seems that the countries and cities of Europe and USA of those times were trying to outdo each other in grand celebrations. Paris had its own Exposition in 1889, celebrating a hundred years of the Fall of Bastille, with the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Like the Eiffel Tower the Heroes Square continues to be mega a tourist attraction, though Europe of today is probably much chastened after its colonial excesses and brutal World Wars.
I didn’t have much time as I was leaving in the afternoon,
so I rushed to the Vajdahunyad castle which was right behind. It is a copy of different
historical styles including a Transylvanian castle. It was originally made of
cardboard and wood it is reconstructed with brick, and today houses the Museum
of Agriculture. I was keen on visiting this castle because I had read an
announcement that there would be free folk music concert here at 10.30. When I
walked into the castle I was disappointed because there seemed to be no
arrangements for a concert, and no keen audience either. I was studying the
carving on the door of a Chapel when I suddenly heard the sound of bagpipe.
Turning around I saw a long haired man walking in the compound playing his
bagpipe which seemed to be made from the leather of one whole sheep or similar
sized animal. The interest of the visitors was piqued and as he walked into the
museum building a folk band started playing from one of the castle galleries.
We stood around below the gallery enjoying the music, but I didn’t have much
time on hand I left after a while.
I was not prepared for what I saw next. Right outside the
castle, on the lawns of the City Park, an open air exhibition and stage was a
Hare Krishna event. On the stage a woman was dancing to the rhythm of a
mridangam, and ranged around were stalls selling books, music and clothes. All
the devotees were Caucasian. I had seen the Hare Krishna devotees in many
places in the US and the UK but I hadn’t thought that the movement started by a
Bengali from Kolkata Abhay Charan De (subsequently Swami Prabhupada) had spread
so far and wide. While our current ruling party is worrying about battling
cultural invasion from the west, I wonder what they feel proud of this Indian
religious movement that seems to have a visible global following. Something
tells me that it may not be the case because the Hare Krishna devotees seem
very passive and gentle when compared to the Bajarangi bhais.
My next destination was the Szechenyi Medicinal Baths, famed
to be the largest public medicinal bath in the world. The building housing the
bath was so grand (like most Budapest buildings) that for a minute I couldn’t
believe that these were indeed public facilities. Unlike the image of public
swimming pools that I have in my mind- the building was more like a palace or a
concert hall – very ornate and completely covered. I walked in with trepidation
– the foyer was truly like that of a palace, with elaborate statues and
carving. But there were two ticket windows discreetly placed on either side of
the semi circular space. People had come with their small backpacks and were
buying tickets the very reasonably priced tickets. I looked at my watch – I
simply didn’t have the time to take dip. Resolving that I must come back again
I rushed out and went down to the Metro station right outside, a little anxious
that I would make the taxi which was to take me to the airport wait.Here is a short film of this trip
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