Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple is located in a village called Polali in Bhantwal Taluk. Polali is around 19 km from the city of Mangalore in Karnataka. Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple is situated on the banks of Phalguni river.
While the stone idols or granite idols of the deities are common, we would see a clay idol in Polali Temple. Yes, the goddess Rajarajeshwari was made out of special clay several years ago. This clay used is also said to possess medicinal qualities.
The area around the temple is ruled by many dynasties, such as Kadamba, Chalukya, Alupa, Rashtrakuta, Hoysala, Vijayanagara, Ikkeri, Mysore.. About AD The rulers of the Alupa dynasty who ruled this area in 710 have contributed to the development of the temple and encouraged Sri Rajarajeshwari Puja in this area. In later years, the lower queen Chennammaji visited the temple and offered a grand chariot to the temple The main sanctum has the idol of the presiding deity Rajarajeshwari. Along with this, there are different shrines dedicated to Mahaganapathi, Subramanya, Badhrakali and Saraswathi.
Chendu’ in Kannada means ball, the Polali Chendu Festival is nothing but a football game. Interestingly, the leather ball used for the game is made by a cobbler family exclusively, for this annual event. The Polali Chendu Festival is part of an annual temple festival, which goes on for a month during March – April. Football tournament goes on for five days during the month of the yearly festival. Traditionally, this football game represents the win of the ‘good over evil’.