India, March 21 -- Visva Bharati, Bengal's only central university located at Santiniketan town in Birbhum district will open its gates for tourists, ending a five-year ban, the new vice-chancellor Prabir Kumar Ghosh announced on Thursday.

"The campus will be opened again for tourists. Since this historic place has been declared a world heritage site, we have to maintain it and link the heritage to tourism. I have given permission to let tourists visit all parts of the campus," Ghosh, who took charge earlier this week, told the media at Visva Bharati on Thursday night.

Currently, tourists can visit only the Visva Bharati museum by paying a fee.

Set up in 1863 by Rabindranath Tagore's father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore as a retreat for...