The coach, which had been the centerpiece of many a spectacular Dussera celebrations in Mysore, will be auctioned off on December 15 on a premium collection auction website, www.gavelnet.com. The bid, which opened on November 15, is yet to attract any bidder till date.

The coach has been priced between $ 32,000 to $ 48,000 and the opening bid starts at $ 10,560. It was till recently exhibited at a museum in the United Kingdom.

However, the present Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar will not be bidding for the coach. ``It is too costly, I can get better silver chariots from North India at lower cost,'' he said and added that foreign exchange regulations will hinder any such effort.

Though Wadiyar does not remember having ever ridden the chariot - ``I have neverliked chariots''- he claimed it was sold off because of financial constraints alone. ``During the early '70s, we had also donated a large number of chariots and horses,'' he recollected.

The coach was used by the Wadiyars till the early 70s in Mysore, the Maharaja being a recipient of a privy purse in lieu of a rent from the state revenues. But in 1971, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi withdrew the purses, which left many a member of such erstwhile rulers in bad shape. Especially because, except banking heavily on the State revenues, they had not amassed large personal fortunes.