Alanta (dialectal Aukštaitian name Alunta, Polish: Owanta, Yiddish אַוואָנטע) is a small town in Molėtai district municipality, Lithuania.

The name of the river is derived from an ancient Lithuanian verb "alėti", which means 'to stream merrily' or 'to run'.

In 1436, Sigismund Kestutaitis granted Alanta to Kristinas Astikas to commend him for his aid in defeating Švitrigaila in the Lithuanian Civil War (1431–1435).

In the 16th century, the town's Catholic church was built, and in 1581 the Grand Duke of Lithuania Stefan Batory gifted Alanta to Gáspár Békés (Lithuanian: Kasparas Bekešas), a Hungarian general.

The entire Jewish community of 30 families,[3] which comprised the majority of the population of Alanta, was killed during the Holocaust in August 1941.