It is also called "gateway of Kashmir" and is a notified area committee with tehsil status (Shahabad Bala Verinag) and is about 26 kilometers away from Anantnag and approximately 78 kilometres south-east from Srinagar which is the summer capital of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Verinag Spring and Mughal Arcade surrounding it is officially recognized by Archaeological Survey of India as a Monument of National Importance.

Verinag spring was originally an irregular and shapeless pond, and water, oozing out from different places in it and spread about and formed a little marsh.

Emperor Jahangir, whose artistic taste for polishing the beauty of nature is well known, saw this and at once determined to improve it.

He built the octagonal tank of sculptured stones round it, so that all water was collected therein, for which carvers were brought from Iran.

The construction date of the octagonal tank and the garden is 1029 Hijri or 1620 A.D, during the 15th year of the Jahangir's reign, which is duly inscribed on a stone slab built into the southern wall of the spring.

The water is collected in a pool surrounded by arched recesses, and then flows down a 300-yard canal to the Bihat river.

It is also a sacred place for Hindus as there is a Lord Shiva shivling in one of the arcs (the very first on the left of the entry of the spring).

The waters of the many nearby springs, collectively called, Sapta Rishi, have their confluence at Sangam, where people bathe on festival days.

The birth of the river is celebrated annually with a fair on the thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the month Bhadrapada of the Hindu Calendar.

The translation of prose in Persian language written on stone slab built into the southern wall of spring is as follows:- The king of seven kingdoms, the administrator of justice, the father of victory, Nur-ud-din, Jahangir son of Akbar, the martyr king, halted at this spring of God's grace in the 15th year of his reign.

(1029 Hijri)[5] The translation of prose in Persian language written on stone slab built into the western wall of spring is as follows:- Haidar, by order of Shah Jahan, the paramount lord of his age---- God be praised—made the cascade and aqueduct flow.

It is a pool measuring a jarib which tosses in foam with an astonishing roar, and its depth is unfathomable.

Near it are the remains of a place of worship for recluses; cells cut out of the rock and numerous caves.

[11]That (land) is protected by Nīla, the lord of all Nāgas, whose regal parasol is formed by the circular pond (of the Nīlakunda) with the Vitastā's newly rising stream as its stick.

The Charbagh takes its inspiration from the Quranic description of heaven as having four rivers, of wine, honey, milk, and water.

The traditional Charbagh is uniformly shaped, with a water source in its center and four (char) radiating streams which divide the garden (bagh) into four parts.

As with other Kashmiri gardens, Vernag is located on a steep hillside, with its water source at the top.

This town is located in the vicinity of Banihal pass of Pir Panjal mountain range.

Nearest railway station is Hillar Shahabad on the 119 km long Jammu–Baramulla line that runs from Baramulla to Banihal.

Verinag is divided into 7 wards: Bonagund, Malikpora, Patikhas, Bagwanpora, kanilpora, Chontipora, and Kokagund.