(CNN) -- They lined up hundreds strong to touch the dirt. Some fell to their knees, clutching the gritty stuff as though it were a long-lost child. Others lifted it to their lips to savor a taste of the home they left behind decades ago.





Exiles -- who face never returning to Tibet as long as it is under Chinese rule -- stood on Tibetan soil this week, fulfilling a desire that has burned within since they fled westward across the Himalayas. Only, this week, they were able to do it in Dharamsala, the Indian hilltown that functions as the de facto capital of the refugee community.





The display was the work of New York artist Tenzing Rigdol, 29, who clandestinely trucked in sacks containing 22 tons of dirt from Tibet to Dharamsala to construct his installation. He did not want to disclose details of the soil's journey, fearful of the repercussions of the act of smuggling. All he would say is that it was a "complicated process that took 17 months."





Rigdol then spread the dirt over a stage the size of a basketball court and called it "Our Land, Our People."





He invited Tibetans to walk on his dirt, write on it or pick up a microphone to express themselves. He knew it could never be the same as actually returning to Tibet, but perhaps, he thought, it would spark a sliver of that feeling.





He thought of his father on Wednesday when the installation opened and people lined up, many overwhelmed with emotion.





The only wish his father had was to see Tibet one more time. But he fell ill in 2007 and died.





A father's unfulfilled wish drove his artist son to create something that would allow the displaced to be able to "return" home again. And others like him, who were born outside of Tibet, to finally feel native earth they have never had under their feet.





"There are so many like my father who wanted to return," Rigdol said. "And many more who have never been to Tibet."





Tenzin Dorjee, 31, remembers receiving cell phone texts at 4:30 in the morning when his excited friend first came up with his idea. The message was so long that it got broken into three.





"He was saying he had this idea to transport a large amount of soil from Tibet," Dorjee said. "I was blown away. My first reaction was: how is that possible?"





But then Dorjee began visualizing the project and how much of an impact it was sure to have on Tibetan exiles.





"The implications," he said, "seemed historic."





Known as the "roof of the world," Tibet is a remote Buddhist region governed by Communist China. Beijing claims its sovereignty over Tibet goes back centuries and views the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as a separatist.





About 150,000 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in Dharamsala, according to their governing body. The Dalai Lama set up residence there after Chinese forces crushed a 1959 Tibetan uprising.





The Dalai Lama summoned Rigdol to his residence after the opening of the installation Wednesday, Rigdol said.





Rigdol carried with him some of the Tibetan dirt. Using his index finger, the Dalai Lama, wrote Tibet in the dirt and blessed the soil.





Meanwhile, monks in their flowing maroon and saffron robes queued up, as did parents holding babies.





"It was very exciting," said Tenzing Geche, 22, a monk who was a baby when his family left Tibet. He touched the dirt and felt a connection like no other.





"I felt I was back in my own country," he said.





Tenzing Tfuengue, 17, has never been to Tibet -- he was born and raised in India. He has longed to go to Tibet, feel the air there, drink the water, see the land that possesses his soul.





"Today, (Rigdol) made it a little bit possible," Tfuengue said.





For Lhadon Tethong, 35, a Canadian visiting family
Who smuggled the soil in sacks from Tibet to India? What do Tibetans long for? Who long to see their homeland?
Tenzing Rigdol, returning to Tibet Exiles
question: Who smuggled the soil in sacks from Tibet to India?, answer: Tenzing Rigdol, | question: What do Tibetans long for?, answer: returning to Tibet | question: Who long to see their homeland?, answer: Exiles