Minneapolis–Saint Paul Grand Excursion, a trip into the Upper Midwest sponsored by the Rock Island Railroad, brought more than a thousand curious travelers into the area by rail and steamboat in 1854. The next year, in 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published "The Song of Hiawatha", an epic poem based on the Ojibwe legends of Hiawatha. A number of natural area landmarks were included in the story, such as Lake Minnetonka and Minnehaha Falls. Tourists inspired by the coverage of the Grand Excursion in eastern newspapers and those who read Longfellow's story flocked to the area in the following decades. At one time,
Hunkar (epic poem) Hunkar (epic poem) Hunkar is an epic poem by Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'. "Himalaya" is from the collection "Hunkar" (A Roar) which has been described by a critic as "burning coals in the shade of playful rainbow". In this poem, the loftiness of the Himalayas reflects metaphorically the Mahatma, whom he invokes to rise to action, leaving the path of the mystical meditation of the ascetic. Few stanzas in translation are: "My king of mountains! My magnificent one!<br>" "Radiant embodiment of great glory!<br>" "Flame of fierce, accumulated prowess!<br>" "Snowy diadem of my motherland!<br>" "Effulgent brow of my Bharat!<br>" "My king