Colombo, Jan 8 (IANS): Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday said he will mediate to make the "Thripitakaya", an ancient Buddhist scripture in Sri Lanka, as a World Heritage, a day after he declared it as a national heritage.

Sirisena, on Sunday in a historic ceremony held at the Aluviharaya Temple in Matale, central Sri Lanka, declared the ancient Buddhist scripture as a national heritage in the presence of thousands of Buddhist monks and devotees, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Thripitakaya is a collection of ancient Buddhist teachings preserved in historic Buddhist temples.

Addressing the ceremony, Sirisena said the historic task of declaring the Thripitakaya as a national heritage will save it from distorted interpretations and will make the world understand the actual life of the Buddha.

Media reports said that the scripture was declared as a national heritage with the aim of preserving pure Buddhism, which was introduced thousands of years ago to benefit people across the world and the future generations.

The Thripitakaya was written in Ola Leaves in the first century BC and was later printed as books in a project launched in 1956.