Tripura's century-old 'Puspavanta Palace', the official residence of 16 state Governors since 1972, is set to be transformed into a museum and research centre dedicated to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Governor Tathagata Roy has shifted to a new Raj Bhavan building, which he inaugurated on April 18 at the capital complex here.

"The palace was built by British architecture company Martin and Burn 101 years ago, and with the shifting of the Raj Bhavan, it would now be turned into a museum and a tourist spot," Samarjit Bhowmick, the Governor's Secretary said. Pannalal Roy, who conducted a research on the relation of Tagore with the Manikya kings of Tripura, said the bard visited the state seven times, and had stayed at the palace in 1925 as the guest of Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur, the last Manikya king.