Human skeletal remains in the Ganges flood plain near Allahabad (India).

The flood plain of the Ganges river is like a sandy desert during the dry season, but it is completely flooded during the monsoon (rainy season).

It is common to stumble upon human skeletons on the Ganges flood plain, as the Ganges is a Holy river for Hindu people. Hindu are normally cremated, but some categories of people are "buried" directly in the river. This includes pregnant women, young children, Sadhus / Hindu holy men, and people victims of contagious diseases or bitten by a Cobra snake.

Their remains end up scattered over the sandy flood plain during the dry season, when it becomes a desert, and disturbed or dug-up by wild animals or stray dogs.

The cloth is the shroud in which the corpse was wrapped when it was buried in the river.

The shoe is most likely unrelated to the skeleton, since Hindu people are buried bare foot.